Researchers Discover Highest-Energy Light From a Gamma-ray Burst

Professor of Astrophysics Chryssa Kouveliotou and Assistant Professor of Astrophysics Alexander van der Horst were members of an international team of scientists who identified previously unseen components of gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. These explosive events emit extreme amounts of energy and are accompanied by an afterglow of light over a broad range of energies that fades with time. The researchers observed a gamma-ray burst with an afterglow that featured the highest energy photons—a trillion times more energetic than visible light—ever detected in a burst. Their discovery was published in the journal Nature.