Researchers have imaged the optical afterglow of these bursts before, but now a team led by a U-M astrophysicist has captured images of a GRB's optical counterpart while the burst was in progress. Orange dots denote moving magnetic vortices.
Black lines mark their paths.
Java-based animations of the motion of these magnetic flux lines are available. Click on the link at left. For the first time, physicists have set the size of these clouds oscillating, using a laser pulse to coax them into alternately swelling and shrinking.