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Artist’s impression of GRB 211211A. Scientists have linked this unusual gamma-ray burst from a nearby galaxy to a neutron star merger. Credit: Soheb Mandhai @TheAstroPhoenix An unusually powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB 211211A), detected from a nearby galaxy, has been linked to a neutron star merger by an international team of scientists. This burst, notable for its excess of infrared light, was shown to originate from a kilonova, an event thought to occur when neutron stars collide. Scientists have linked a highly unusual blast of high-energy light from a nearby galaxy to a neutron star merger. The event, detected in December...

In December 2021, a massive blast of energy hit the Earth’s atmosphere. Its source was a gamma-ray burst – one of the most powerful explosions in the universe – but not just any gamma ray burst. One scientist said at the time that the event – named GRB 211211A – “looks unlike anything else we have seen before The event was detected in December 2021 by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray burst was significantly longer than average, which might normally suggest it had been produced by the collapse of a massive star...