Ancient galaxy reveals a surprising way to annihilate a star
Astronomers found a new chaotic method ancient galaxy that stars can die while searching for the origin of one of the brightest and most powerful explosions ever recorded in the history of the universe. On October 19, 2019, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory became aware of a strong gamma-ray flare. Just over a minute was spent in the explosion, which is considered long for any gamma-ray burst (GRB) that lasts longer than two seconds. At least one oddball The majority of GRBs have been linked to neutron star mergers or the collapse of stars at least 10 times as massive as our sun. Neutron stars are the dense afterglow of massive stars that explode. However, the burst in October 2019—abbreviated GRB 191019A—came from a different source and revealed a sort of star death that had only ever been theorized. The supermassive black hole at the center of an ancient galaxy is thought by astronomers to have caused the burst when stars or potentially the remains of stars cla...