Astronomers Detect Magnetic Fingerprint of a Cosmic Explosion for the First Time

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Astronomers Detect Magnetic Fingerprint of a Cosmic Explosion for the First Time

Astronomers Detect Magnetic Fingerprint of a Cosmic Explosion for the First Time

Bright point of light in the upper left corner with jets. The jet splits into red and blue wavelengths moving at the same angle towards the bottom right corner. As they hit a mostly transparent, pinkish bubble of gas they twist in different amounts until they leave the bubble and continue off screen, no longer twisting but now at different angles.

This illustration depicts Faraday rotation in the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. A powerful jet (upper left) sends polarized radio waves outward through the thin wall of a surrounding bubble of magnetized gas called an HII region. As the light passes through this material, its polarization angle is twisted by the magnetic field. Because the effect is stronger at longer wavelengths, the red and blue waves, which represent different radio wavelengths, exit the bubble oscillating in different directions. By measuring this difference, astronomers were able to map the magnetic environment surrounding GRB 260310A for the first time.

Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M.Weiss

Gamma Ray Burst VLA

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Astronomers Detect Magnetic Fingerprint of a Cosmic Explosion for the First Time

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