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2026-02-19 09:56:23
[Chinese Researchers Propose New Explanation for the Cause of an Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Burst] Gamma-ray bursts are among the most violent explosive phenomena in the universe, typically lasting from milliseconds to several minutes. Recently, a new study has provided a fresh perspective on this event. A team from the National Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, used a newly developed analytical tool to comprehensively search observational data from satellites such as HXMT and JX3 for 30 days before and after this gamma-ray burst. They discovered that it lasted for 29 hours in the gamma-ray band, breaking the record for the longest gamma-ray burst. Furthermore, the team also found that the accompanying X-ray radiation exhibited unique time-varying characteristics. Based on these findings, the research team proposed a novel "supergiant self-regulating collapse star model." This model suggests that the progenitor of this gamma-ray burst was a supergiant star with a mass far exceeding that of the Sun. Unlike the progenitors of ordinary gamma-ray bursts, the collapse of a supergiant can last for tens of days. When the supergiant exhausts its fuel, its core first collapses to form a black hole. The black hole rapidly accretes matter from the supergiant's inner layers, generating jets at near-light speed—the source of the gamma-ray burst. During the subsequent accretion process, a slightly slower jet was generated, emitting X-ray radiation. (Xinhua)
