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Cosmological gamma-ray burstsThe distribution in angle and flux of gamma-ray bursts indicates that the majority of gamma-ray bursters are at cosmological distances, i.e., at z of about 1. The rate is then about 10 exp -8/yr in a galaxy like the Milky Way, i.e., orders of magnitude lower than the estimated rate for collisions between neutron stars in close binary systems. The energy per burst is about 10 exp 51 ergs, assuming isotropic emission. The events appear to be less energetic and more frequent if their emission is strongly beamed. Some tests for the distance scale are discussed: a correlation between the burst's strength and its spectrum; the absorption by the Galactic gas below about 2 keV; the X-ray tails caused by forward scattering by the Galactic dust; about 1 month recurrence of some bursts caused by gravitational lensing by foreground galaxies; and a search for gamma-ray bursts in M31. The bursts appear to be a manifestation of something exotic, but conventional compact objects can provide an explanation. The best possibility is offered by a decay of a bindary composed of a spinning-stellar-mass black-hole primary and a neutron or a strange-quark star secondary. In the final phase the secondary is tidally disrupted, forms an accretion disk, and up to 10 exp 54 ergs are released. A very small fraction of this energy powers the gamma-ray burst.
Document ID
19920039594
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Paczynski, Bohdan
(Princeton University Observatory, NJ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Acta Astronomica
Volume: 41
Issue: 4 19
ISSN: 0001-5237
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
92A22218
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-90-23775
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2448
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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