A cosmic explosion that lasted seven hours: this is the unusual spectacle recently observed by astronomers. Named GRB 250702B, this gamma-ray burst shattered previous duration records. Unlike typical ...

Astronomers are trying to understand what caused a series of gamma ray bursts, or GRBs — the most powerful explosions in the universe. These energetic bursts are typically unleashed by the incendiary ...

Dense knots of dust in otherwise normal galaxies dim the light of a dark gamma-ray burst (center). The dust absorbs most or all of a burst’s visible light but not higher-energy X-rays and gamma rays.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are intense bursts of gamma radiation, typically generating more energy in a few seconds than the sun will produce over its ten-billion-year lifetime. These transient phenomena ...

Astronomers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have helped uncover new clues about the longest-lasting cosmic explosion ever observed, a gamma-ray burst that lasted nearly seven hours.

When space telescopes blazed with high-energy radiation for hours earlier this year, astronomers suspected that they were witnessing something special. The cosmic flash GRB 250702B was no ...

In 2022, astronomers discovered the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) of all time. Now, astronomers confirm that a 'normal' supernova, the telltale sign of a stellar collapse, accompanied the GRB. The ...

"The gamma-ray burst traveled through intergalactic space at the speed of light for eleven billion years, during which time the Sun and the planets were born." — Timothy Ferris, in the film version of ...

On Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, a pulse of intense radiation swept through the solar system so exceptional that astronomers quickly dubbed it the BOAT – the brightest of all time. The source was a gamma-ray ...

"They allow us to see back to the earliest times that stars existed." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Scientists may be a step ...

When faraway stars explode, they send out flashes of energy called gamma-ray bursts that are bright enough that telescopes back on Earth can detect them. Studying these pulses, which can also come ...