Powerful gamma-ray burst was aimed at Earth
Posted: Fri, Sep 12, 2008, 7:31 AM ET (1131 GMT)
A powerful gamma-ray burst detected earlier this year that created an afterglow briefly visible to the naked eye was aimed almost directly towards the Earth, scientists said this week. The burst, GRB 080319B, took place on March 19th and was detected by NASA's Swift spacecraft and several other satellites, and produced an optical afterglow that reached magnitude 5.3, despite being 7.5 billion light-years away. Scientists analyzing space- and ground-based observations found that the bursts's brightness came from a central narrow jet consisting of material traveling at 99.99995 percent the speed of light, aimed almost directly towards the Earth. Astronomers said they normally only see a wider, somewhat less energetic jet from such bursts, and don't know if all GRBs have a such a narrow, intense central jet.
A powerful gamma-ray burst detected earlier this year that created an afterglow briefly visible to the naked eye was aimed almost directly towards the Earth, scientists said this week. The burst, GRB 080319B, took place on March 19th and was detected by NASA's Swift spacecraft and several other satellites, and produced an optical afterglow that reached magnitude 5.3, despite being 7.5 billion light-years away. Scientists analyzing space- and ground-based observations found that the bursts's brightness came from a central narrow jet consisting of material traveling at 99.99995 percent the speed of light, aimed almost directly towards the Earth. Astronomers said they normally only see a wider, somewhat less energetic jet from such bursts, and don't know if all GRBs have a such a narrow, intense central jet.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, September 17
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled for Wednesday morning
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) Colorado Springs springs into action amid loss of Space Command
Washington Times — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) SpaceX rocket-launching license survives NEPA challenge
POLITICO — 1:30 am ET (0530 GMT) SpaceX Eyes First Starship Version 3 Launch In ’25 Or ’26
Aviation Week — 1:29 am ET (0529 GMT) Judge dismisses suit challenging SpaceX's Starship approval
Houston Chronicle — 1:28 am ET (0528 GMT) |
