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14 July 2010
Swift Briefly Blinded by Mega X-ray Blast
A record-breaking gamma ray burst from beyond the Milky Way temporarily blinded the X-ray eye on NASA's Swift space observatory on June 21, 2010. The X-rays traveled through space for 5-billion years before slamming into and overwhelming the space-based telescope. "This gamma-ray burst is by far the brightest light source ever seen in X-ray wavelengths [...]
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04 February 2010
GRB Central Engines Observed in Nearby Supernovae?
Are the relativistic jets of long gamma ray bursts (GRBs) produced by brand new black holes? Do some core-collapse supernovae result in black holes and relativistic jets? The answer to both questions is 'very likely, yes'! And what recent research points to those answers? Study of an Ic supernova (SN 2007gr), and an Ibc one (SN [...]
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27 January 2010
Supernova or GRB? Radio Observations Allow Astronomers to Find Unusual Object
For the first time, astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it. Radio observations with the Very Large Array (VLA) showed material expelled from supernova explosion SN2009bb at speeds approaching the speed of light. The superfast speeds in these rare [...]
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26 November 2009
Fermi Finds Gamma-Ray Microquasar
Fermi's Large Area Telescope has detected bursts of gamma-rays in the binary system Cygnus X-3, which astronomers say are coming from a microquasar. While microquasars have strong emissions across is a broad range of wavelengths, this is the first time this type of object has been detected in gamma rays. "Cygnus X-3 [...]
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28 October 2009
More Observations of GRB 090423, the Most Distant Known Object in the Universe
This image shows the afterglow of GRB 090423 (red source in the centre) and was created from images taken in the z, Y and J filters at Gemini-South and VLT (credit: A. J. Levan). On April 23, 2009 the Swift satellite detected a gamma ray burst and as we reported back in April, scientists soon realized [...]
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28 October 2009
Einstein Still Rules, Says Fermi Telescope Team
While the Fermi Space Telescope has mapped the gamma ray sky with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity, it now has been able to take a measurement that has provided rare experimental evidence about the very structure of space and time, unified as space-time. Einstein's theory of relativity states that all electromagnetic radiation travels through a [...]
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18 September 2009
Blaming Black Holes for Gamma Ray Bursts
Black holes get a bad rap. Most people are afraid of them, and some think black holes might even destroy Earth. Now, scientists from the University of Leeds are blaming black holes for causing the most energetic and deadly outbursts in the universe: gamma ray bursts. (...)Read the rest of Blaming Black Holes [...]
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08 June 2009
“Dark” Gamma-Ray Bursts Shed Light on Star Formation
Thanks to the Swift satellite and several ground based optical telescopes, astronomers are learning more about so-called “dark” gamma-ray bursts, which are bright in gamma- and X-ray emissions but with little or no visible light. These dark bursts are also providing astronomers with insights on finding areas of star formation that are hidden by [...]
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28 April 2009
GRB Smashes Record for Most Distant Known Object
A really, really long time ago in a galaxy far away, a massive star exploded. On April 23, 2009, the Swift satellite detected that explosion. This spectacular gamma ray burst was seen 13 billion light years away, with a redshift of 8.2, the highest ever measured. As we hinted yesterday, this [...]
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27 April 2009
Most Distant Object Ever Seen
According to the Sky and Telescope blog, NASA’s Swift satellite captured a faint gamma-ray burst (GRB) last Thursday which has smashed the record for the earliest, most distant known object in the universe. Various ground-based telescopes following up on Swift’s initial detection of the GRB have measured redshifts of the object, varying from [...]
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22 April 2009
Black Hole Jets Pack One, Two Punch in Radio, Gamma Rays
Compact, ultrabright jets at supermassive black holes in active galaxies were already known to pack an impressive punch in radio waves.  And now, an international team of scientists says they’re kicking out high-energy gamma rays too. (...)Read the rest of Black Hole Jets Pack One, Two Punch in Radio, Gamma Rays (529 words) © anne for Universe Today, 2009. [...]
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06 April 2009
Now Showing: Fermi All-Sky Movie
This could be titled “87 Days of Fermi,” or “Blazing Galaxies:” This movie is made from the first 87 days of data gathered by Fermi’s Large Area Telescope (LAT), showing all the gamma ray sources detected so far, with active galaxies called blazars flaring and fading in this all-sky movie. “The movie [...]
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03 April 2009
Integral Dissects Super-Bright Gamma Ray Burst
The European Space Agency’s Integral spacecraft has captured one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen. In looking at the data, astronomers have been able to investigate the initial phases of this giant stellar explosion, which ejected matter at velocities close to the speed of light. Astronomers also believe the explosion lifted a piece [...]
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02 March 2009
Swift Satellite Catches Early Stages of GRB
Astronomers have now been able to see the very early stages of a gamma ray burst, thanks to the Swift satellite. The Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on board the satellite provided an ultraviolet spectrum of a GRB just 251 seconds after its onset - the earliest ever captured. Further use of the instrument in this [...]
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19 February 2009
Fermi Glimpses Wildest-Ever Gamma-Ray Blast
GRB 080916C's X-ray afterglow appears orange and yellow in this view that merges images from Swift's UltraViolet/Optical and X-ray telescopes. Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler   Researchers using the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are reporting a gamma-ray explosion that blows away anything they've seen before. The blast, recorded last fall in the constellation Carina, released the energy of 9,000 supernovae. The collapse [...]
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