What causes gamma-ray bursts?
Category: Astronomy
Status: Queued
Long gamma-ray bursts (>2 s) are associated with collapsars — massive star core-collapse with a relativistic jet. Short bursts (<2 s) are associated with neutron-star mergers (confirmed by GW170817).
Open questions remain about jet launching, magnetic versus thermal acceleration, the diversity of progenitors, and why GRBs sometimes lack expected counterparts.
Sources
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No runs yet — this question is queued.