Astronomers link mysterious cosmic flashes to collisions of dead stars
For decades, astronomers have identified collisions between two neutron stars through bursts of gamma rays that can disappear in less than two seconds. But some of these violent encounters may also reveal themselves through X-ray flashes lasting several minutes. A new study published in Science Bulletin provides evidence for this connection, suggesting that merging neutron stars could be hiding…
Astronomers have discovered a new type of cosmic flash that may be linked to collisions between dead stars called neutron stars. These flashes, known as fast X-ray transients, can last for several minutes after a mere gamma-ray burst lasting just a fraction of a second. Researchers studying the phenomenon believe that the X-ray flashes could be the aftermath of two neutron stars merging.
This hypothesis gained strong support when researchers observed the X-ray flash EP250704a/GRB 250704B, which lasted nearly 10 minutes after a brief gamma-ray burst of half a second. The team used data from the Einstein Probe satellite, the Very Large Telescope, and the Very Large Array to study the burst's aftermath. They identified clear absorption patterns in the light from the explosion, which helped determine its distance from Earth, known as redshift.
The distance measurement, combined with the absence of a supernova and the burst's properties, provided strong evidence that the source was a neutron star merger. The prolonged X-ray emission observed is consistent with the presence of a magnetar, a rapidly spinning neutron star with a highly magnetic field. Magnetars are thought to be the remnant of a neutron star collision, and their magnetic power can make the explosion brighter and longer-lasting.
This discovery provides evidence that some fast X-ray transients arise from neutron star mergers, offering a potential link between the mysterious cosmic flashes and the violent collisions of dead stars.
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