gamma-ray burst

Liz Gamma Ray Bursts

Wait... was that a ginormous burst of cosmic energy or just space junk?

By Elizabeth Rayne 7 months ago

Artwork depicting the moment of collision between two neutron stars. The resulting explosion is… quite large. Credit: Dana Berry, SkyWorks Digital, Inc.

The birth of a little black hole may have revealed a much bigger black hole

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

The Midnight Sky

The Midnight Sky's apocalyptic disaster has us wondering: What cosmic threats are out there?

By Cassidy Ward 1 year ago

Artwork showing the birth of a magnetar, a neutron star with a fiercely strong magnetic field, with the field lines depicted. If it forms from two neutron stars merging, twin beams of material get blasted away as well. Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Player

Did astronomers just witness the explosive birth of a magnetar?

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

An image of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 181123B’s host galaxy (circled) taken by the Gemini Observatory.

Astronomers nab the farthest visible explosion from a neutron star collision ever seen

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

Artwork depicting a gamma-ray burst with a beam of material racing away. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Kornmesser

Two gamma-ray bursts emit highest energy photons ever seen from GRBs

By Phil Plait 2 years ago

Artwork depicting beams of matter and energy tearing through a massive blue star, creating a hypernova and gamma-ray burst. Credit: NASA/Dana Berry/Skyworks Digital

When the first stars in the Universe exploded, they really exploded

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

The astonishing dust spiral around 2XMM J160050.7-514245, aka Apep — a star that may become a powerful gamma-ray burst. Credit: ESO/Callingham et al.

Is this cosmic sprinkler surrounding galaxy’s next gamma-ray burst?

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

Artwork depicting the moment of collision between two neutron stars. The resulting explosion is… quite large. Credit: Dana Berry, SkyWorks Digital, Inc.

BIG NEWS: For the first time, astronomers detect gravitational waves from two neutron stars crashing together!

By Phil Plait 4 years ago