Observation of X-ray Lines from a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB991216): Evidence of Moving Ejecta from the Progenitor
- 3 November 2000
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 290 (5493) , 955-958
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5493.955
Abstract
We report on the discovery of two emission features observed in the x-ray spectrum of the afterglow of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) of 16 December 1999 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These features are identified with the Lyαline and the narrow recombination continuum by hydrogenic ions of iron at a redshiftz= 1.00 ± 0.02, providing an unambiguous measurement of the distance of a GRB. Line width and intensity imply that the progenitor of the GRB was a massive star system that ejected, before the GRB event, a quantity of iron ∼0.01 of the mass of the sun at a velocity ∼0.1 of the speed of light, probably by a supernova explosion.Keywords
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