Ingredients of Most Common Gamma-Ray Burst (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Ingredients of Most Common Gamma-Ray Burst

Caption

This illustration shows the ingredients of the most common type of gamma-ray burst. The core of a massive star (left) has collapsed, forming a black hole that sends a jet moving through the collapsing star and out into space at near the speed of light. Radiation across the spectrum arises from hot ionized gas in the vicinity of the newborn black hole, collisions among shells of fast-moving gas within the jet, and from the leading edge of the jet as it sweeps up and interacts with its surroundings.

Credit

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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