Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 October 17
   [2]The featured image shows X-ray rings surrounding GRB 221009A. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                    X-Ray Rings Around a Gamma Ray Burst
      Image Credit: [3]NASA [4]Swift Obs.; Data: [5]B. Cenko ([6]NASA's
     GSFC), [7]A. Beardmore ([8]U. Leicester) et al.; Processing: [9]J.
                          Miller ([10]U. Michigan)

   Explanation: Why would x-ray rings appear around a gamma-ray burst? The
   surprising answer has little to do with the explosion itself but rather
   with light reflected off areas of [11]dust-laden gas in our own
   [12]Milky Way Galaxy. [13]GRB 221009A was a tremendous explosion -- a
   very bright [14]gamma-ray burst (GRB) that occurred [15]far across the
   universe with radiation just arriving in [16]our Solar System last
   week. Since [17]GRBs can also emit copious amounts of [18]x-rays, a
   bright flash of x-rays arrived nearly simultaneously with the
   [19]gamma-radiation. [20]In this case, the X-rays also bounced off
   regions high in dust right here in our [21]Milky Way Galaxy, creating
   the [22]unusual reflections. The greater the [23]angle between
   reflecting Milky Way dust and the GRB, the greater the radius of the
   [24]X-ray rings, and, typically, the longer it takes for these
   [25]light-echoes to arrive.

                   Tomorrow's picture: a flowering aurora
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
              [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC,
                         [46]NASA Science Activation
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2210/GrbRings_SwiftMiller_1458.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/
   5. https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Brad.Cenko/Brad_Cenkos_NASA_HomePage/Home.html
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard
   7. https://le.ac.uk/people/andrew-beardmore
   8. https://le.ac.uk/
   9. https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/jonmm/
  10. https://lsa.umich.edu/astro
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030721.html
  12. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_221009A
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst
  15. https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/32648.gcn3
  16. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/
  17. https://www.quantamagazine.org/brighter-than-a-billion-billion-suns-gamma-ray-bursts-continue-to-surprise-20210630/
  18. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays
  19. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/12_gammarays
  20. https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/32680.gcn3
  21. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200224.html
  23. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/in-in-class11th-physics/in-in-11th-physics-units-and-measurement/in-in-11th-physics-physical-quantities-and-their-measurement/a/angular-measure-1
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040130.html
  25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_echo
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221016.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=221017
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221018.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/