Related papers: Delayed Nickel Decay in Gamma Ray Bursts
Early X-ray afterglows recently detected by {\it Swift} frequently show a phase of very shallow flux decay lasting from $\sim 10^{2.5} $s up to $\sim 10^4 $s, followed by a steeper, more familiar decay. We suggest that the flat early part…
We propose a model to explain how a Gamma Rays Burst can take place days or years after a supernova explosion. Our model is based on the conversion of a pure hadronic star (neutron star) into a star made at least in part of deconfined quark…
High-resolution two-dimensional simulations were performed for the first five minutes of the evolution of a core collapse supernova explosion in a 15 solar mass blue supergiant progenitor. The computations start shortly after bounce and…
The measurement of gamma rays at MeV energies from cosmic radioactivities is one of the key tools for nuclear astrophysics, in its study of nuclear reactions and how they shape objects such as massive stars and supernova explosions.…
Kilonovae are a novel class of astrophysical transients, and the only observationally-confirmed site of rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis (the r-process) in the Universe. To date, only a handful of kilonovae have been detected, with…
Several investigations of FGK stars in the solar neighborhood have suggested that thin-disk stars with an iron abundance similar to the Sun appear to show higher abundances of other elements, such as silicon, titanium, or nickel. Offsets…
The observation of a radioactively powered kilonova AT~2017gfo associated with the gravitational wave-event GW170817 from binary neutron star merger proves that these events are ideal sites for the production of heavy $r$-process elements.…
Recent XMM-Newton observations of the cooling flow gas in M87 indicate sharply decreasing oxygen, iron and silicon abundances within $\sim 5$ kpc of the galactic center. This result is unexpected since stellar mass loss and Type Ia…
The successful discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows of gamma-ray bursts has significantly helped our understanding of these sources, and made possible the identification of host galaxies at cosmological distances. The energy…
The radioactive decay of the freshly synthesized $r$-process nuclei ejected in compact binary mergers power optical/infrared macronovae (kilonovae) that follow these events. The light curves depend critically on the energy partition among…
We propose that the flat decay phase in the first 100-10,000 seconds of the X-ray light curve of Gamma Ray Bursts can be interpreted as prolonged activity of the central engine, producing shells of decreasing bulk Lorentz factors Gamma. The…
We report on an XMM-Newton observation of the X-ray afterglow of the Gamma Ray Burst GRB 011211, originally detected by Beppo-SAX on 11th December 2001. The early afterglow spectrum obtained by XMM-Newton, observed 11 hours after the…
The origin of heavy r-process elements in the universe is still a matter of great debate, with a confirmed scenario being neutron star (NS) mergers. Additional relevant sites could be specific classes of events, such as gamma-ray burst…
The broad X-ray iron line, detected in many active galactic nuclei, is likely to be produced by fluorescence from the X-ray illuminated central parts of an accretion disc close to a supermassive black hole. The time-averaged shape of the…
The optical light curve of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) is powered by thermalized gamma-rays produced by the decay of 56Ni and 56Co, the main radioactive isotopes synthesized by the thermonuclear explosion of a C/O white dwarf. Gamma-rays…
The X-ray light curves of hundreds of bursts are now available, thanks to the X-ray Telescope on board the Swift satellite, on time scales from ~1 minute up to weeks and in some cases months from the burst explosion. These data allow us to…
We present the first attempt to determine the iron abundance in hot central stars of planetary nebulae. We perform an analysis with fully metal-line blanketed NLTE model atmospheres for a sample of ten stars (T_eff >= 70.000 K) for which…
By now there is substantial evidence that Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) originate at cosmological distances from very powerful explosions. The interaction between a GRB and its surrounding environment has dramatic consequences on the environment…
We propose a statistical method for decomposition of contributions to iron production from various sources: supernovae Type II and the subpopulations of supernovae Type Ia -- prompt (their progenitors are short-lived stars of ages less then…
During the first few hundred days after the explosion, core-collapse supernovae (SNe) emit down-scattered X-rays and gamma-rays originating from radioactive line emissions, primarily from the $^{56}$Ni $\rightarrow$ $^{56}$Co $\rightarrow$…