chandra_154 April 4th, 2001
Credit: NASA/CNR/L.Piro et al.
Data from this Chandra image suggest that gamma-ray bursts originate in regions of star formation. Several theories exist about what causes gamma-ray bursts, including a hypothesis that a massive star explodes, creating a blast of material that expands at relativistic speeds like an inflating bubble. The latest Chandra data obtained suggest that these expanding bubbles of material are braking against a wall of very dense gas. This could imply that gamma-ray burst explosions occur in the same stellar environment that originally produced the massive star itself, and perhaps may be a trigger for even more star formation.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1006/
Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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