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NASA detects another powerful gamma ray explosion

NASA's Swift spacecraft has detected its 1,000th gamma-ray burst (GRB).

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Gamma Ray Burst | Credits: NASA
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NASA's swift spacecraft which was launched in 2004 has detected its 1,000th gamma-ray burst (GRB).

GRBs are one of the most powerful explosions in the universe that are typically associated with a massive star collapsing and the birth of a black hole.

A GRB is a fleeting blast of high-energy light, often lasting a minute or less, occurring somewhere in the sky every couple of days. Scientists are looking for exceptional bursts that offer the deepest insights into the extreme physical processes at work.

"Detecting GRBs is Swift's bread and butter, and we're now at 1,000 and counting," said Neil Gehrels, the Swift principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The spacecraft remains in great shape after nearly 11 years in space, and we expect to see many more GRBs to come."

Astronomers classify GRBs by their duration. Like GRB 151027B, roughly 90 percent of bursts are of the "long" variety, where the gamma-ray pulse lasts more than two seconds. 

Once a GRB is identified, the race is on to observe its fading light with as many instruments as possible. Based on alerts from Swift, robotic observatories and human-operated telescopes turn to the blast site to measure its rapidly fading afterglow, which emits X-rays, ultraviolet, visible and infrared light, and radio waves. While optical after glows are generally faint, they can briefly become bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye.

In addition to its GRB studies, Swift conducts multi-wavelength observations of a wide array of astrophysical phenomena, from nearby comets and asteroids to faraway quasars and blazars, galaxies where super massive black holes produce unpredictable high-energy flares.  

Read NASA's full article here.

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