No direction home?In "Unique Explosion: Gamma-ray burst gamma-ray burst n. A short-lived, localized, and intense burst of gamma radiation that originates outside the solar system from an unknown source. leads astronomers to supernova" (SN: 3/4/06, p. 133), the author states that the observed supernova was "one of only a handful ...heralded by a burst of gamma rays Gamma rays Electromagnetic radiation emitted from excited atomic nuclei as an integral part of the process whereby the nucleus rearranges itself into a state of lower excitation (that is, energy content). ." Isn't that because gamma-ray bursts from core-collapse supernovas are directional, along the axis of rotation Noun 1. axis of rotation - the center around which something rotates axis mechanism - device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function ? Was GRB GRB Gamma Ray Burst(er) GRB Graduate Recruitment Bureau GRB Grid Resource Broker GRB Grootschalig Referentiebestand (Dutch: large scale mapping program) GRB Gharb 060218 "unique" because it produced a burst of gamma rays or because its axis was pointed our way? PETER WILSON, SIMI VALLEY, CALIF. Gamma-ray bursts are directional, but less than I percent of supernovas are associated with gamma-ray bursts. Moreover, the supernovas are fainter, and therefore harder to detect, than gamma-ray bursts. That's why only a few of these supernovas have been detected.--R. COWEN |
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