Radio Array Detects Polarized Light From a GRB

Universe Today Universe Today —

This illustration depicts Faraday rotation in the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst.</p><p>A powerful jet (upper left) sends polarized radio waves outward through the thin wall of a surrounding bubble of magnetized gas called an HII region.</p><p>As the light passes through this material, its polarization angle is twisted by the magnetic field.</p><p>Because the effect is stronger at longer wavelengths, the red and blue waves, which represent different radio wavelengths, exit the bubble oscillating in different directions.</p><p>By measuring this difference, astronomers were able to map the magnetic environment surrounding GRB 260310A for the first time.</p><p>Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M.Weisshttps://www.universetoday.com/article_images/PIG321-GRB_polarization_ill6M_lrg-1024x683_20260730_021420.jpg" width="1280" />

On March 10, 2026, the Fermi telescope gamma-ray burst team reported the detection of a long-duration gamma ray burst that occurred when a star exploded inside a dense, highly magnetized cloud of hydrogen gas.

That HII region is a bubble of ionized hydrogen created by winds from a massive young star.

Astronomers immediately turned as many telescopes as possible to view the burst and its afterglow, including the NSF's Karl Jansky Very Large Array.

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