gamma-ray burst

noun

gam·​ma-ray burst ˈga-mə-ˈrā- 

variants or less commonly gamma ray burst

: a brief, powerful jet of gamma rays detected deep in space that is generated by the collapse and explosion of a celestial object

Eventually, though, the neutron star slows down, probably because of magnetic braking. Then it implodes, touching off a gamma ray burst.

—Govert Schilling

—abbreviation GRB

Examples of gamma-ray burst in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To produce such a catastrophic energy projectile, an equally powerful explosion is in order, which is where gamma-ray bursts come from. —Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2024

Its source was an unusually close brush with a gamma-ray burst, a 1-in-10,000-year event, according to a 2023 study published in Astrophysical Research Letters. —Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2024

Those gamma-ray bursts lasting less than two seconds (about 30 percent) are deemed short bursts, usually emitting from regions with very little star formation. —Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 22 June 2023

Another option is that the long gamma-ray bursts don’t come from feasting newborn black holes at all. —Quanta Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023

Enlarge / Artist's conception of a gamma-ray burst. —Dhananjay Khadilkar, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2023

However, a recent gamma-ray burst that's been called the BOAT (brightest of all time) may be providing us with new information on the events within a few days of a supernova's explosion. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 8 June 2023

Again, the rate at which this would occur is sufficiently low that very few planets would ever be sterilized by a gamma-ray burst. —Discover Magazine, 17 July 2017

These gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions known — a typical gamma-ray burst can produce as much energy in the seconds or minutes of its explosion than the sun produces in its entire lifetime. —Erika K. Carlson, Discover Magazine, 14 Jan. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above