What are Gamma-ray Bursts? | NASA Goddard

What are Gamma-ray Bursts? | NASA Goddard

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. They first came to the attention of astronomers in the 1970s when new satellites detected this surprising phenomenon. Over decades, scientists have found that these blasts could be detected in the sky almost every day, and that they were both extremely distant. The closest known GRB was over 100 million light-years away—and enormously powerful. Gamma-ray bursts are now linked to the explosive deaths of massive stars and to mergers of compact objects, like neutron stars and black holes. However, many puzzles remain.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS) Science writers:  Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park)
Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park) Scientist: Brad Cenko (NASA/GSFC)
Narrator: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Dec. 20, 2024

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