image: An artist's impression of the stars creating gamma-ray bursts. The background blue star is the progenitor of a standard long duration gamma-ray burst. A so-called Wolf-Rayet star, it has a mass ...
The longest gamma-ray burst ever recorded did not behave like a quick cosmic flash. Instead, it burned across the sky for more than seven hours, forcing astronomers to rethink what powers the universe ...
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 ...
Researchers may have identified what could be a compelling clue in the ongoing hunt to prove the existence of dark matter. A mysterious diffuse glow of gamma rays near the center of the Milky Way has ...
A fizzled example of a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion known in the universe, suggests these outbursts may not always work the way that scientists thought, and that versions of ...
A sudden brightening in observations of the oldest known galaxy has a rather disappointing explanation. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it ...
The strongest explosions in the universe produce even more energetic radiation than previously known: Using specialised telescopes, two international teams have registered the highest energy gamma ...
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 ...
An explosion — about 100 times brighter than previously recorded — blinded scientists' instruments. Scientists marveled at the power of the gamma-ray jet, which likely marked the birth of a black hole ...