IS GRO J1744-28 A STRANGE STAR

The unusual hard x-ray burster GRO J1744-28 recently discovered by the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory can be modeled as a strange star with a dipolar magnetic field of less than or equal to 10(11) gauss. Accordi ng to this model, when the accreted mass of the star exceeds some crit ical mass, its crust breaks, resulting in the conversion of the accret ed matter into strange matter and a release of energy. Subsequently, a fireball forms and expands relativistically outward. The expanding fi reball interacts with the surrounding interstellar medium, causing its kinetic energy to be radiated in shock waves and producing a burst of x-ray radiation. The burst energy, duration, interval, and spectrum d erived from such a model are consistent with the observations of GRO J 1744-28.