Hubble Tracks Origins Of Energy Blasts

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    Hubble Captures 3 Faces of Evolving Supernova

    Nov. 9th, 2022

    Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. Through a “trick” of light-bending gravity, the Hubble Space Telescope captured three different moments in the explosion of a very far-off supernova—all in one snapshot! Einstein first predicted this phenomenon, called gravitational lensing, in his theory of general relativity. In this case, the immense gravity of the galaxy cluster Abell 370 acted as a cosmic lens, bending and magnifying the light from the more distant supernova located behind the cluster. The warping also produced multiple images of the explosion over different time periods that all arrived at Hubble simultaneously. They show the unfolding supernova over the course of a week.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Music & Sound“Distant Messages” by Anne Nikitin [PRS] via BBC Production Music [PRS] and Universal Production Music Related pages

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    Hubble Reveals Ultra-Relativistic Jet

    Oct. 12th, 2022

    Master VersionHorizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally. Vertical VersionThis vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed. Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found a jet propelled through space at nearly the speed of light by the titanic collision between two neutron stars, which are the collapsed cores of massive supergiant stars.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Music & Sound“Grip the Nation” by JKyle Gabbidon [PRS] via Ninja Tune Production Music [PRS] and Universal Production Music Related pages

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    NASA Missions Unveil Magnetar Eruptions in Nearby Galaxies

    Jan. 13th, 2021

    On April 15, 2020, a wave of X-rays and gamma rays lasting only a fraction of a second triggered detectors on NASA and European spacecraft. The event was a giant flare from a magnetar, a type of city-sized stellar remnant that boasts the strongest magnetic fields known. Watch to learn more.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Collision Course-Alternative Version" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. Astronomers explain the observations of GRB 200415A with the sequence of events illustrated here. A magnetar is a city-sized ball containing more mass than the Sun and boasting the strongest magnetic fields known. A sudden reconfiguration of this field, possibly caused by a starquake, produced a quick, powerful pulse of X-rays and gamma rays. The event also ejected a blob of matter, which followed the pulse and moved slightly slower, at about 99% the speed of light. After a few days, they both reached the boundary, called a bow shock, where a steady outflow from the magnetar causes a pile-up of interstellar gas. Light from the flare passed through, followed many seconds later by the fast-moving cloud of ejected particles. They interacted with gas at the bow shock, creating shock waves that accelerated particles and produced high-energy gamma rays. This accounts for the delay in the arrival of the most energetic gamma rays detected by NASA's Fermi mission. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)Music: "Collision Course" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. Scientists think the giant flare cataloged as GRB 200415A began with an abrupt rearrangement of a magnetar's magnetic field, possibly caused by a starquake. This change produced a quick, powerful pulse of X-rays and gamma rays (magenta). The event also ejected a blob of electrons and positrons traveling at about 99% the speed of light.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) A GIF version of the above.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) The initial pulse of X-rays and gamma rays (magenta) traveled away from the magnetar, followed closely by the expanding cloud of particles, which moved only slightly slower. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) After a few days, both the flare's light and the cloud of ejected matter approached the boundary, called a bow shock, where a steady outflow from the magnetar causes a pile-up of interstellar gas. The quick pulse of light from the flare passed through, followed many seconds later by the fast-moving cloud, which had grown larger and more diffuse. The cloud interacted with gas at the bow shock, creating shock waves that accelerated particles and produced the highest-energy gamma rays. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) Unlabeled version of the sequence above.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) This schematic view illustrates the sequence of events that explains the observations of GRB 200415A. A magnetar (left) is a city-sized ball containing more mass than the Sun that boasts the strongest magnetic fields known. A sudden reconfiguration of this field produced a quick, powerful pulse of X-rays and gamma rays (magenta). The event also ejected a blob of electrons and positrons traveling at about 99% the speed of light. After a few days, they both reached the boundary, called a bow shock, where the magnetar's steady outflow of particles causes interstellar gas to pile up. Light from the flare passed through, followed many seconds later by the expanded cloud of particles. The fast-moving cloud interacted with gas at the bow shock, creating shock waves that accelerated particles and produce gamma rays. This accounts for the delay in the arrival of the highest-energy light detected by NASA's Fermi spacecraft.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This sequence shows the estimated locations of bursts now recognized as magnetar giant flares in galaxies far beyond our own. Detections by different spacecraft define bands of possible locations. A box (red outline) defined by the intersection of these bands marks the flare's best position. Portions of the localizations for flares from M81 (2005), M31 and M83 (both in 2007) include these galaxies. In contrast, the localization box for the 2020 flare in NGC 253 lies almost entirely within the galaxy's disk. This is the most precise position yet established for a magnetar located well beyond our galaxy.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, DSS, SDSS, and Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona Detections of GRB 200415A by NASA's Fermi, Wind, Mars Odyssey, and Swift missions provide bands of possible locations. These bands overlap in the central region of the Sculptor galaxy.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona Giant flares from magnetars in or near the Milky Way evolve in a distinct way, with a quick rise to peak brightness followed by a rapidly fluctuating tail of emission. This spiky tail results from the magnetar's spin bringing the flare's hot spot in and out of view, and it is conclusive evidence of a giant flare. Seen from millions of light-years away, though, this tail emission is too dim to detect with today’s instruments, as shown in this illustration. Because this signature is missing, giant flares in our galactic neighborhood can masquerade as much more distant and powerful merger-type GRBs. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center A GIF version of the above. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center NGC 253 is a bright spiral galaxy located about 11.4 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Credit: Copyright Dietmar Hager and Eric Benson, used with premission NGC 253, also known as the Sculptor galaxy or the Silver Dollar galaxy, is a bright spiral located about 11.4 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Credit: Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona, used with permission This illustration shows magnetar giant flares (magenta circles) associated with galaxies well beyond our own. The 2020 flare in NGC 253 is the first one to be located so precisely that the errors in its position all lie within the galaxy's disk. Astronomers now think a few percent of short GRBs really are relatively nearby magnetar giant flares, as opposed to much more distant and powerful merger events.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This illustration shows the three nearest magnetar giant flares (magenta circles) known. The first one erupted in 1979 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy located about 163,000 light-years away. The others erupted in 1998 and 2004 within our galaxy. The 2004 event produced brief, measurable changes to Earth's ionosphere despite occurring about 28,000 light-years away. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center On April 15, 2020, a brief burst of high-energy light swept through the solar system, triggering instruments on several NASA and European missions. Now, multiple international science teams conclude that the blast came from a supermagnetized stellar remnant known as a magnetar located in a neighboring galaxy.This finding confirms long-held suspicions that some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) – cosmic eruptions detected somewhere in the sky almost daily – are in fact powerful flares from magnetars relatively close to home.The April 15 event, cataloged as GRB 200415A, is a game changer because, for the first time, the burst's estimated location is almost entirely within the disk of one galaxy – NGC 253, located 11.4 million light-years away. This is the most precise position yet established for a giant flare located well beyond our galaxy.GRBs, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, can be detected across billions of light-years. Those lasting less than about two seconds, called short GRBs, occur when a pair of orbiting neutron stars both the crushed remnants of exploded stars spiral into each other and merge. Magnetars are neutron stars with the strongest-known magnetic fields, with up to a thousand times the intensity of typical neutron stars and up to 10 trillion times the strength of a refrigerator magnet. Rarely, magnetars produce enormous eruptions called giant flares that produce gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.Shortly before 4:42 a.m. EDT on April 15, a powerful burst of X-rays and gamma rays triggered, in turn, instruments on NASA's Mars Odyssey mission, Wind satellite, and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. A ground-based analysis of data from NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory show that it also detected the event. The pulse of radiation lasted just 140 milliseconds, as fast as a blink of the eye or a finger snap. Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) also detected high-energy gamma rays up to several minutes after this pulse, a surprising finding. Analysis of Fermi and Swift data indicate that the outburst launched a blob of electrons and positrons moving at about 99% the speed of light. The blob expanded as it traveled, following closely behind the light emitted by the giant flare. After a few days, scientists say, they reached the boundary separating the magnetar's region of influence from interstellar space. The light passed through, followed many seconds later by the greatly expanded cloud. This material induced shock waves in gas piled up at the boundary, and the interaction produced the highest-energy emission detected by the LAT. For More InformationSee [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXYvhYXBeP0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXYvhYXBeP0) Related pages

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    NASA Missions Team Up to Study Unique Magnetar Outburst

    Nov. 4th, 2020

    On April 28, space- and ground-based observatories detected powerful, simultaneous X-ray and radio bursts from a source in our galaxy. Watch to see how this unique event helps solve the longstanding puzzle of fast radio bursts observed in other galaxies.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Jupiter's Eye" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. Illustrated wide shot showing an X-ray burst ejecting a plume of material that travels high above the magnetar and emits a radio burst. Radio signals from pulsars, another class of neutron star, originate high above their surfaces – exactly where and how, we don’t know. Astronomers think the X-ray burst from SGR 1935 ejected a plume of matter that soared to similar heights, where it emitted the powerful radio burst.Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) Illustrated medium view of a magnetar during a burst storm. Late on April 27, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory spotted a new round of activity from magnetar SGR 1935+2154, located in the constellation Vulpecula. It was the object’s most prolific flare-up yet – a storm of rapid-fire X-ray bursts, each lasting less than a second. The storm raged for hours, picked up at various times by Swift, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray telescope on the International Space Station. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) A powerful X-ray burst erupts from magnetar SGR 1935+2154 in this illustration. The April 28 eruption, which lasted about half a second, likely drove off a plume of matter. Astronomers say that, while the X-ray burst flared, the ejected material emitted a radio burst lasting just a thousandth of a second, likely from a location high above the magnetar.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) Illustrated magnetar flyby sequence showing magnetic field lines. A magnetar is a type of isolated neutron star, the crushed, city-size remains of a star many times more massive than our Sun. Their magnetic fields can be 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet's and up to a thousand times stronger than a typical neutron star's. This represents an enormous storehouse of energy that astronomers suspect powers magnetar outbursts.Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) Illustrated magnetar flyby sequence during which magnetic field lines appear.Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) A powerful X-ray burst erupts from a magnetar – a supermagnetized version of a stellar remnant known as a neutron star – in this illustration. A radio burst detected April 28 occurred during a flare-up like this on a magnetar called SGR 1935. The radio signal was more powerful than any previously seen in our galaxy. The simultaneous X-ray and radio events implicate magnetars as a likely source of mysterious fast radio bursts observed from other galaxies. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) On April 28, a supermagnetized stellar remnant known as a magnetar blasted out a simultaneous mix of X-ray and radio signals never observed before. The flare-up included the first fast radio burst (FRB) ever seen from within our Milky Way galaxy and shows that magnetars can produce these mysterious and powerful radio blasts previously only seen in other galaxies. A magnetar is a type of isolated neutron star, the crushed, city-size remains of a star many times more massive than our Sun. What makes a magnetar so special is its intense magnetic field. The field can be 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet's and up to a thousand times stronger than a typical neutron star's. This represents an enormous storehouse of energy that astronomers suspect powers magnetar outbursts. The X-ray portion of the synchronous bursts was detected by several satellites, including NASA's Wind mission. The radio component was discovered by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), a radio telescope located at Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia and led by several Canadian universities. It was also detected by the NASA-funded Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2), a trio of detectors in California and Utah operated by Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The STARE2 data showed that the burst's energy was comparable to FRBs. By the time these bursts occurred, astronomers had already been monitoring their source, a magnetar named SGR 1935+2154, for more than half a day using NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray telescope mounted atop the International Space Station.About 13 hours later, when the magnetar was out of view for Swift, Fermi and NICER, a special X-ray burst erupted. The blast was seen by the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL mission, the China National Space Administration’s Huiyan X-ray satellite, and the Russian Konus instrument on Wind. As the half-second-long X-ray burst flared, CHIME and STARE2 detected the radio burst, which lasted only a thousandth of a second. Taken together, the observations strongly suggest that the magnetar produced the Milky Way galaxy's equivalent of an FRB, which means magnetars in other galaxies likely produce at least some of these signals. For More InformationSee [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-missions-help-pinpoint-the-source-of-a-unique-x-ray-radio-burst](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-missions-help-pinpoint-the-source-of-a-unique-x-ray-radio-burst) Related pages

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    Fermi Finds Hints of Starquakes in Magnetar 'Storm'

    Oct. 21st, 2014

    A rupture in the crust of a highly magnetized neutron star, shown here in an artist's rendering, can trigger high-energy eruptions. Fermi observations of these blasts include information on how the star's surface twists and vibrates, providing new insights into what lies beneath. The subtle pattern on the surface represents a twisting motion imparted to the magnetar by the explosion.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger A rupture in the crust of a highly magnetized neutron star, shown here in an artist's rendering, can trigger high-energy eruptions. Fermi observations of these blasts include information on how the star's surface twists and vibrates, providing new insights into what lies beneath.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger Astronomers analyzing data acquired by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope during a rapid-fire "storm" of high-energy blasts in 2009 have discovered underlying signals related to seismic waves rippling throughout the host neutron star.The burst storm came from SGR J1550−5418, a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field, also known as a magnetar. Located about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Norma, the magnetar was quiet until October 2008, when it entered a period of eruptive activity that ended in April 2009. At times, the object produced hundreds of bursts in as little as 20 minutes, and the most intense explosions emitted more total energy than the sun does in 20 years. High-energy instruments on many spacecraft, including NASA's Swift and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, detected hundreds of gamma-ray and X-ray blasts.An examination of 263 individual bursts detected by Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor confirms vibrations in the frequency ranges previously only seen in rare giant flares from magnetars. Astronomers suspect these are twisting oscillations of the star where the crust and the core, bound by the magnetic field, vibrate together. In addition, a single burst showed an oscillation at a frequency never seen before and which scientists still do not understand.While there are many efforts to describe the interiors of neutron stars, scientists lack enough observational detail to choose between differing models. Neutron stars reach densities far beyond the reach of laboratories and their interiors may exceed the density of an atomic nucleus by as much as 10 times. Knowing more about how bursts shake up these stars will give theorists an important new window into understanding their internal structure.Magnetar Burst with Torsional Waves Magnetar Burst Unlabled still of Fermi here For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasas-fermi-satellite-finds-hints-of-starquakes-in-magnetar-storm](http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasas-fermi-satellite-finds-hints-of-starquakes-in-magnetar-storm) Related pages

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