ATCA helps capture 'unprecedented detail' in a gamma-ray burst

Using ground and space-based telescopes including the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), an international team has constructed one of the most detailed descriptions of a gamma-ray burst to date.The team's findings were published in Nature on 27 July 2017.

"Radio observations were very important to understand the explosion properties, the jet structure, and determine the nature of the very bright, early optical emission," said lead author Dr Eleonora Troja, an assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland.

"Although the main result comes from the early optical/gamma-ray data, we could not have achieved a robust result without the synergistic effort of many facilities, including the significant contribution from ATCA."

Added by Helen Sim on 2017-07-28