Search Publications
A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc
Kilpatrick, Charles D.; Izzo, Luca; Smith, Nathan +32 more
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two populations1,2; long GRBs that derive from the core collapse of massive stars (for example, ref. 3) and short GRBs that form in the merger of two compact objects4,5. Although it is common to divide the two populations at a gamma-ray duration of 2 s, classification based …
A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster
Lindqvist, M.; Lazio, T. J. W.; Ransom, S. M. +63 more
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are flashes of unknown physical origin1. The majority of FRBs have been seen only once, although some are known to generate multiple flashes2,3. Many models invoke magnetically powered neutron stars (magnetars) as the source of the emission4,5. Recently, the discovery6 of another…
A nearby long gamma-ray burst from a merger of compact objects
Troja, E.; Wollaeger, R. T.; Butler, N. R. +21 more
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of high-energy radiation arising from energetic cosmic explosions. Bursts of long (greater than two seconds) duration are produced by the core-collapse of massive stars1, and those of short (less than two seconds) duration by the merger of compact objects, such as two neutron stars2. A thir…
A time-resolved picture of our Milky Way's early formation history
Xiang, Maosheng; Rix, Hans-Walter
The formation of our Milky Way can be split up qualitatively into different phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar populations: the halo and the disk components1-3. Revealing a quantitative overall picture of our Galaxy's assembly requires a large sample of stars with very precise ages. Here we report an analysis of …
Star formation near the Sun is driven by expansion of the Local Bubble
Alves, João; Speagle, Joshua S.; Zucker, Catherine +8 more
For decades we have known that the Sun lies within the Local Bubble, a cavity of low-density, high-temperature plasma surrounded by a shell of cold, neutral gas and dust1-3. However, the precise shape and extent of this shell4,5, the impetus and timescale for its formation6,7, and its relationship to nearby star fo…
A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2
Mahler, Guillaume; Anderson, Jay; Broadhurst, Tom +26 more
Galaxy clusters magnify background objects through strong gravitational lensing. Typical magnifications for lensed galaxies are factors of a few but can also be as high as tens or hundreds, stretching galaxies into giant arcs1,2. Individual stars can attain even higher magnifications given fortuitous alignment with the lensing cluster. …
A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole
Kulkarni, S. R.; Kilpatrick, Charles D.; Izzo, Luca +78 more
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are bursts of electromagnetic energy that are released when supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies violently disrupt a star that passes too close1. TDEs provide a window through which to study accretion onto supermassive black holes; in some rare cases, this accretion leads to launching of a r…
A dusty compact object bridging galaxies and quasars at cosmic dawn
Marques-Chaves, R.; Magdis, G. E.; Colina, L. +18 more
Understanding how super-massive black holes form and grow in the early Universe has become a major challenge1,2 since it was discovered that luminous quasars existed only 700 million years after the Big Bang3,4. Simulations indicate an evolutionary sequence of dust-reddened quasars emerging from heavily dust-obscured starburs…
Gigaelectronvolt emission from a compact binary merger
Campana, Sergio; Salafia, Om Sharan; Giarratana, Stefano +9 more
An energetic γ-ray burst (GRB), GRB 211211A, was observed on 11 December 20211,2. Despite its long duration, typically associated with bursts produced by the collapse of massive stars, the observation of an optical-infrared kilonova points to a compact binary merger origin3. Here we report observations of a significant (more …
Optical superluminal motion measurement in the neutron-star merger GW170817
Anderson, Jay; Lu, Wenbin; Mooley, Kunal P.
The afterglow of the binary neutron-star merger GW1708171 gave evidence for a structured relativistic jet2-6 and a link3,7,8 between such mergers and short gamma-ray bursts. Superluminal motion, found using radio very long baseline interferometry3 (VLBI), together with the afterglow light curve provided …