Earth has been hit by an ‘unusual, intense blast of energy’ from nearby galaxy that could change our understanding of the universe
2 years, 3 months ago

Earth has been hit by an ‘unusual, intense blast of energy’ from nearby galaxy that could change our understanding of the universe

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Earth has been hit by an intense, unusual blast of light that could change our understanding of the universe, scientists have said. Late last year, scientists spotted a 50-second-long blast of energy coming towards Earth, known as a gamma-ray burst or GRB, which are the most powerful explosions in the universe. “This event looks unlike anything else we have seen before from a long gamma-ray burst,” said Jillian Rastinejad, from Northwestern University, who led the study. This event represents an exciting paradigm shift for gamma-ray burst astronomy.” A paper describing the findings, ‘A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc’, is published in the journal Nature today.

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History of this topic

The 'morbid' theory explaining why aliens have not contacted us on Earth
10 months, 2 weeks ago

The 'morbid' theory explaining why aliens have not contacted us on Earth

Daily Mail  

The speculation that some form of alien life exists beyond our planet goes back to ancient Greece and Rome, yet humans have still not made contact. A variety of cosmic activity may be capable of generating gamma-ray bursts as the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab in Arizona proposed a case that may have originated with the the collision of stars or …

Is THIS how the world will end? Scientists warn a rare type of space explosion could eradicate life on Earth for 'thousands of years'
1 year, 4 months ago

Is THIS how the world will end? Scientists warn a rare type of space explosion could eradicate life on Earth for 'thousands of years'

Daily Mail  

From asteroids to alien annihilation, Hollywood disaster movies have envisioned just about every possibility for how the world might end. Scientists have warned that a rare type of space explosion known as a kilonova could eradicate life on Earth for 'thousands of years' WHAT IS A KILONOVA? 'We found that if a neutron star merger were to occur within around …

Scientists see huge explosion in space – and it could tell us where life came from
1 year, 4 months ago

Scientists see huge explosion in space – and it could tell us where life came from

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have watched one of the most powerful explosions ever seen – and …

Earth hit by blast of energy from dead star so powerful that scientists can’t explain it
1 year, 5 months ago

Earth hit by blast of energy from dead star so powerful that scientists can’t explain it

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The burst of gamma rays, originating in a dead star known as a pulsar, is the most …

Astronomers spot the largest cosmic explosion ever seen
1 year, 10 months ago

Astronomers spot the largest cosmic explosion ever seen

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Astronomers have uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed. The explosion is more …

Astronomers marvel at 'perfect explosion,' a spherical cosmic fireball
2 years, 1 month ago

Astronomers marvel at 'perfect explosion,' a spherical cosmic fireball

The Hindu  

Astronomers have observed what might be the "perfect explosion," a colossal and utterly spherical blast triggered by the merger of two very dense stellar remnants called neutron stars shortly before the combined entity collapsed to form a black hole. "To be honest, we are really going back to the drawing board with this," Cosmic Dawn Center astrophysicist and study co-author …

A mysterious blast of energy is a black hole pointing straight at Earth, scientists say
2 years, 3 months ago

A mysterious blast of energy is a black hole pointing straight at Earth, scientists say

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A mysterious and incredibly intense blast of visible light that came towards Earth …

Scientists find galaxies that are releasing intense, mysterious blasts of energy
2 years, 3 months ago

Scientists find galaxies that are releasing intense, mysterious blasts of energy

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have built a detailed inventory of galaxies that are releasing the intense, …

A gamma ray burst — possibly the brightest of all time — sweeps over Earth
2 years, 5 months ago

A gamma ray burst — possibly the brightest of all time — sweeps over Earth

Salon  

Earth just got zapped. On Sunday a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful class of explosions in the universe, caused a wave of gamma rays and X-rays to sweep over Earth. In a breathless press release, NASA emphasized that their detectors all over the planet picked up on this, including NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and …

Astronomers are captivated by brightest flash ever seen
2 years, 5 months ago

Astronomers are captivated by brightest flash ever seen

The Hindu  

Astronomers have observed the brightest flash of light ever seen, from an event that occurred 2.4 billion light years from Earth and was likely triggered by the formation of a black hole. "Gamma-ray bursts in general release the same amount of energy that our Sun produces over its entire lifetime in the span of a few seconds -- and this …

Mysterious energy burst seen in millimeter wavelength radio astronomy for first time
2 years, 7 months ago

Mysterious energy burst seen in millimeter wavelength radio astronomy for first time

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy One of the most powerful flashes in the sky, the result of a …

Researchers observe never before seen short gamma-ray burst from collapsing star
3 years, 7 months ago

Researchers observe never before seen short gamma-ray burst from collapsing star

Hindustan Times  

Astronomers from across the world, including those from four Indian institutions, observed a 0.65 second gamma-ray burst in August last year using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray space telescope. Astronomers believe that short gamma-ray bursts of less than two seconds originate when two black holes, two neutron stars, or a black hole and a neutron star merge with each other. This observation …

Indian astronomers part of Nasa team detect radiation from death of a star over 5 billion years ago
3 years, 7 months ago

Indian astronomers part of Nasa team detect radiation from death of a star over 5 billion years ago

India Today  

Part of an astronomy team, Indian astronomers have detected a very short, powerful burst of high-energy radiation that lasted for about a second. While the burst was detected for barely a second, astronomers estimate that it emitted 14 million times the energy released by the entire Milky Way galaxy over the same amount of time, making it one of the …

Phenomenal explosion in space captured like never before
3 years, 9 months ago

Phenomenal explosion in space captured like never before

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. from the ground A typical gamma-ray burst usually takes place 20 billion light years away, but this …

Astronomers spot 'unexplained brightness' from colossal explosion
4 years, 4 months ago

Astronomers spot 'unexplained brightness' from colossal explosion

India TV News  

Astronomers have discovered the brightest infrared light from a short gamma-ray burst ever seen, with a bizarre glow that is much brighter than previously thought was possible. It's half-second flash of light, detected in May of this year, came from a violent explosion of gamma rays billions of light-years away that unleashed more energy in a blink of an eye …

New beast: Astronomers detect another rare blue optical transient in the universe, 500 million-light-years-away
4 years, 9 months ago

New beast: Astronomers detect another rare blue optical transient in the universe, 500 million-light-years-away

Firstpost  

This explosion has taken scientists by surprise because of its speed and heaviness of the material outflows. They found out that that blue light was known to have been a result of a fast blue optical transient that was described as a new form of an explosion in the universe. The recent one called CSS161010, short for CRTS-CSS161010 J045834-081803, has …

Huge neutron star sent blasts of gravitational waves and radiation towards Earth, astronomers say
6 years ago

Huge neutron star sent blasts of gravitational waves and radiation towards Earth, astronomers say

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have detected a blast of material sent 130 million light years through …

Collapse of star captured for first time, say scientists
6 years, 2 months ago

Collapse of star captured for first time, say scientists

India TV News  

A mysterious cosmic explosion detected about 200 million light years away may be the exact moment a star collapsed to form a black hole or neutron star, scientists say. After combining several imaging sources, including hard X-rays and radiowaves, the multi-institutional team now speculates that the telescopes captured the exact moment a star collapsed to form a compact object, such …

Astronomers identify "nearby" star system with potential to produce gamma-ray burst
6 years, 4 months ago

Astronomers identify "nearby" star system with potential to produce gamma-ray burst

India TV News  

In a second only to the Big Bang event, astronomers have identified a "nearby" star system with the potential to produce a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic events in the universe. According to a research published in Sydney on Tuesday, scientists revealed they have located the first of this rare star system in our galaxy, just 8,000 light …

Spectacular cosmic pinwheel is a 'ticking bomb' set to blast gamma rays across the Milky Way
6 years, 4 months ago

Spectacular cosmic pinwheel is a 'ticking bomb' set to blast gamma rays across the Milky Way

ABC  

Eight thousand light-years away in a constellation called Norma, a spectacular spiral of gas and dust is churning around a doomed star system like we've never seen before. Key points: Astronomers have named the breathtaking pinwheel Apep, after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction At its centre are two massive, fast-spinning "Wolf-Rayet stars" which appear to be on the …

Could mysterious gamma-ray burst be linked to gravitational wave find?
8 years, 11 months ago

Could mysterious gamma-ray burst be linked to gravitational wave find?

LA Times  

After a decades-long search, scientists announced early this year that they had detected gravitational waves probably coming from the merger of two black holes back in September. Now, a team of scientists using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope say they spotted a brief flash of gamma rays that occurred less than half a second after that long-sought gravitational wave signal. …

Crash Course Astronomy: Gamma-Ray Bursts
9 years, 4 months ago

Crash Course Astronomy: Gamma-Ray Bursts

Slate  

Back when I got my Ph.D. in astronomy, I was pretty focused on my own research topic. These huge explosions in space are basically genetically designed to hit all my scientific sweet spots: They’re mysterious, they’re ridiculously powerful, everything about them is over the top, and they baffled astronomers for decades. They’re the topic of this week’s Crash Course Astronomy: …

Are these mystery radio bursts messages from ALIENS?
10 years, 10 months ago

Are these mystery radio bursts messages from ALIENS?

Daily Mail  

Are these mystery radio bursts messages from ALIENS? Freak frequency from outside the Milky Way baffles astronomers Scientists are trying to work out what is causing Fast Radio Bursts The strange signals occur for a few milliseconds and come from nowhere The first was detected in 2007, but only a handful have been seen since In April the latest discovery …

‘Monster’ cosmic blast zipped harmlessly by Earth
11 years, 3 months ago

‘Monster’ cosmic blast zipped harmlessly by Earth

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Astronomers call it the monster. In general, gamma ray bursts are “the most titanic explosions in the universe,” and this one was so big that some of the telescope instruments hit their peak, Preece said. Astronomers say it is incredibly unlikely that a gamma ray burst — especially a big one like this — could go off in …

Supernova blast emitted record burst of gamma rays
11 years, 4 months ago

Supernova blast emitted record burst of gamma rays

LA Times  

Astronomers have chronicled a record-setting burst of gamma rays from the violent death throes of a relatively nearby massive star that imploded into a black hole. The duration of the event -- on the order of hours -- as well as the number of photons created, the energy of those photons and the total explosive energy and radiance “topped the …

A 24-carat collision: All of the gold on Earth came from dead stars crashing together, claim scientists
11 years, 8 months ago

A 24-carat collision: All of the gold on Earth came from dead stars crashing together, claim scientists

Daily Mail  

A 24-carat collision: All of the gold on Earth came from dead stars crashing together, claim scientists Scientists reveal gold is created as the result of gamma-ray bursts These bursts are created when stars die and collide with each other When these collisions take place heavy elements such as gold are released The amount of gold produced when two neutron …

Ultralong gamma-ray bursts: Hours-long events caused by supergiant stars.
11 years, 11 months ago

Ultralong gamma-ray bursts: Hours-long events caused by supergiant stars.

Slate  

I have long been fascinated by gamma-ray bursts. These are incredibly violent events: It’s like taking the Sun’s entire lifetime energy output and cramming into a single event that lasts for mere seconds! Several ideas were put forth, but new observations provided the linchpin: an ultra-long-duration GRB occurred on Christmas Day in 2010, and its distance was found to be …

Gamma-Ray Bursts Could Halt Photosynthesis
14 years, 7 months ago

Gamma-Ray Bursts Could Halt Photosynthesis

Wired  

Cosmic explosions thousands of light-years away could shut down photosynthesis in the ocean at depths of up to 260 feet, a new study suggests. The calculations add to a growing body of research linking these great blasts, called gamma-ray bursts, with biological damage and even mass extinctions on Earth. These bright beams, known as gamma-ray bursts, can last up to …

Mysterious Gamma-Ray Bursts May Have Ties to Failed Black Holes
15 years, 9 months ago

Mysterious Gamma-Ray Bursts May Have Ties to Failed Black Holes

Wired  

Gamma-ray bursts are the most massive explosions in the universe since the Big Bang, and yet scientists still know relatively little about them. New research published last week on the arXiv website, and not yet peer reviewed, suggests that gamma-ray bursts may be the result of a strange effect that can stop a black hole from forming. Lebedev Physical Institute …

Pulsar's Explosion May Show Rare Stellar Evolution
17 years ago

Pulsar's Explosion May Show Rare Stellar Evolution

Wired  

Astronomers watching a young neutron star explode with X-rays think they've spotted a phenomenon that will help them better understand the life cycles of these incredibly powerful objects. Many of them have strong magnetic fields as well, but a particular kind called magnetars get their energy from extraordinarily powerful magnetic fields – so strong that they can break the star's …

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