Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy
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Penn State

Hybrid Gamma-Ray Burst

Caption: Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of the the "hybrid gamma-ray burst" GRB 060614 (centered in the small box). This galaxy, which has about 1 percent the mass of the Milky Way, is 1.6 billion light years away in the constellation Indus. The location of the gamma-ray burst within the galaxy is indicated by the red cross hairs. The sensitivity of these Hubble images is what enabled astronomers to rule out the possibility that this burst was produced in a supernova-like explosion of a massive star. Since all other long-duration bursts observed with Hubble have shown supernovae, this result has surprised astronomers, suggesting that they may be seeing a new type of black hole explosion.

Credit: K. Sharon & A. Gal-Yam, Caltech.

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