Gamma-ray burst

Astronomy & Observing News

Black Hole Eats through Star, Explodes it from Within

The longest-duration burst of gamma rays on record might mark the moment a black hole tunneled through a star and blew it up from within.

Astronomy & Observing News

Weird X-ray Flashes Lose Some of Their Mystery

Some fast X-ray transients — quick flashes of energetic radiation — may come from massive stars collapsing and exploding at the same time.

illustration of black hole with bright white accretion disk around it; a spiral in the disk goes off to the right. The disk and spiral are redder as they go farther from black hole

Astronomy & Observing News

Is This Gamma-Ray Burst a Shredded Star in Disguise?

Is GRB 191019A a typical burst of gamma rays from a dying star, an anomalously long burst from colliding objects, or something else entirely?

An X-ray image of GRB 221009A

Astronomy & Observing News

Focusing on the Brightest Gamma-ray Burst of All Time

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the universe, and we’ve learned much about these superlative outbursts since their discovery in 1967.

Merger illustration

Astronomy & Observing News

Gamma-ray Burst Surprise

Gamma-ray bursts are generally thought to come in two flavors — supernovae or neutron star mergers. But new discoveries are blurring that line.

Gamma-ray burst

Astronomy & Observing News

Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Yet Lights Up the Sky

A recently detected gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A was so intense that it temporarily blinded instruments and disturbed Earth’s atmosphere.

Apollo 11 photo of Earth with glare from Sun

Astronomy & Observing News

Did Astronomers See a Distant, Dying Star? Or an Earth-bound Satellite?

What seemed a lucky break — the discovery of a gamma-ray burst in the most distant known galaxy — might instead be the flash of passing space debris. As satellites fill low-Earth orbit, such events might become common.

Giant flare on a magnetar

Astronomy & Observing News

Milky Way Magnetar Spits Gamma Rays on Schedule

A Milky Way magnetar surprises astronomers by burping up gamma rays right when their predictions anticipated.

Gamma-ray burst

Astronomy & Observing News

Astronomers Find Most Distant Gamma-ray Burst Yet

From the farthest-known galaxy in the observable universe comes the brightest and most energetic of events: a possible gamma-ray burst.

Birth of a Magnetar

Astronomy & Observing News

Gamma-ray Flash Heralds Birth of a Magnetar

What happens when two neutron stars don't add up to a black hole?

Gamma-ray burst illustration

Astronomy & Observing News

Astronomers See Extreme Photons from Collapsing Massive Stars

Astronomers have detected a long-sought signal from gamma-ray bursts — the highest-energy photons ever seen from these events.

Stellar Science

Two Explosions with Similar Quirks

High-energy radiation released during the merger of two neutron stars last year has left astronomers puzzled. Could a burst of gamma rays from 2015 help us to piece together a coherent picture of both explosions?

Astronomy & Observing News

GRBs: A New Standard Candle?

Astronomers might be on the brink of developing a new rung on the cosmic distance ladder.

Astronomy & Observing News

Dead Stars Caught Colliding

Astronomers have detected a signal that looks like it's from two neutron stars crashing together. The observations could be solid evidence for the hypothesized culprits of short gamma-ray bursts.