A coherent 909-Hz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) has been detected, briefly, in the second brightest gamma-ray burst recorded to date, GRB 230307A. This burst originated from a merger of compact stars, and the QPO signal implies the presence of a millisecond magnetar, formed after the merger.
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References
Abbott, B. P. et al. GW170817: observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017). This paper provided the first direct observational evidence linking binary neutron-star mergers to short gamma-ray bursts, while also leaving open the possibility of a post-merger neutron-star remnant.
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This is a summary of: Chen, R.-C. et al. Evidence for a brief appearance of gamma-ray periodicity after a compact star merger. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02649-w (2025).
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A quasi-periodic oscillation points to a millisecond magnetar powering a gamma-ray burst. Nat Astron (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02652-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02652-1
