An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → source that shows sudden intense → emission of → X-rays or → gamma rays with a rapid rise and decay. Often it cannot be identified with any → optical counterpart.

From → burst + -er a noun-forming suffix.

Belkvar, from belk, → burst, + agent noun suffix -var.

The → object or → phenomenon at the origin of a → gamma-ray burst.

→ gamma ray; → burster.

An object with technical designation MXB 17302335 which is characterized by erratic and extremely intense → X-ray emissions. The Rapid Burster is a → binary system comprising a → low-mass star as its → primary and a → secondary  → neutron star. The → gravitational attraction of the neutron star strips its → companion of some of its gas, which then forms an → accretion disk and spirals toward the neutron star. The Rapid Burster is located at a distance of 110 kpc in the highly reddened → globular cluster Liller 1. It is a → low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) and a recurrent → X-ray transient. So far less than 200 LMXBs have been detected in the → Galaxy and the → Magellanic Clouds. All produce a persistent flux of X-rays, the result of a release of → gravitational potential energy. Approximately 40 of them also exhibit → Type I bursts which are due to → thermonuclear flashes on the surface of a neutron star. The Rapid Burster is unique among the LMXBs in that it produces X-ray bursts in quick succession. These are called → Type II bursts, and they result from a spasmodic release of gravitational potential energy, which is due to some unknown → accretion disk instability (Lewin et al., 1996, ApJ 462, L39).

→ rapid; → burster.