Dec 21 2006
From The Space Library
Scientists using data from NASA’s Swift satellite published research on a newly discovered type of gamma-ray burst (GRB), designated GRB 060614. GRBs, which result from the collapse of stars, are the most powerful explosions in the universe. NASA had launched Swift in November 2004 to study this phenomenon. The satellite had been the first to observe a curious new type of GRB, which exhibited properties of the two known types of GRBs—long- or short-duration GRBs. Long GRBs often last two seconds or longer, whereas short GRBs typically last less than two seconds. The 102-second duration of the newly observed GRB resembled long GRBs. However, the explosion lacked the telltale supernova that follows long GRBs and had the luminosity and radiation characteristic of short GRBs. Scientists remained uncertain whether the newly discovered GRB was a variation of the two known GRB types or an entirely different category of GRB.
Bing Zhang, “Astrophysics: A Burst of New Ideas,” Nature 444, no. 7122 (21 December 2006): 1010-1011, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7122/full/4441010a.html (DOI 1189735951; accessed 6 July 2010); NASA, “Swift: Mission Update,” http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/launch/index.html (accessed 6 July 2010).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
