An optical outburst 10 billion light-years away provided the first direct optical confirmation of a 15-year-old theoretical prediction.
The D50 robotic telescope at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Ondřejov recorded a shape in the light curve of a gamma-ray burst that had been predicted since 2009 but had never before been convincingly observed: synchrotron radiation from a thermal electron population in a relativistic shock wave. This is the first direct optical confirmation of key predictions from computer simulations and, at the same time, demonstrates that the temperature of plasma in a cosmic accelerator can be measured using a single ground-based telescope.
ASU press release / web AI ASCR (in Czech)
More information and contacts
- original: ASU press release / web ASU (in Czech)
- science paper: Jelínek M.; Ierardi A.; Novotný F. et al., Thermal electrons in an ultra-relativistic shock shape the optical afterglow of GRB 250702F | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
- dr. Martin Jelínek, AI ASCR, E-mail: martin.jelinek@asu.cas.cz
- Pavel Suchan, press / outreach AI ASCR, Tel: 737 322 815, E-mail: pavel.suchan@asu.cas.cz
