CYlindrical GAmma-ray Monitor CYGAM -

CYlindrical GAmma-ray Monitor

GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

Nature of the cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRB) is still not clear, but there are arguments in favor of their cosmological origin with the red shifts up to 3-4. Cosmological GRB produce huge amount of energy, which is considered in the form of an expanding fireball, or rapidly (ultrarelativistically) moving cannon balls. The origin of the hard gamma radiation is usually connected with the interaction of the «ball» with the surrounding plasma. A puzzle is the hard gamma ray afterglow, which lasts much longer than the main soft GRB. To explain this phenomenon a specific distribution of matter around the source was considered.

	The gamma-ray burst on february 17, 1994, registered by the EGRET high energy gamma-ray telescope (upper panel) and the ULYSSES low energy gamma-ray detector (lower panel). Note that the high energy emission lasts up to 1.5 hours after the initial low energy outburst.
	Nature is unknown.

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CYGAM (PDF, 450 Kb)

Space Research Institute, 2002- 2003