What are Gamma-ray Bursts?

@nasa over 1 year ago

Our intrepid Traveler is planning a visit to a gamma-ray burst, the universe’s most powerful explosions. Find out more about these spectacular fireworks displays!

A gamma-ray burst is, well, a giant burst of gamma-rays, the highest-energy form of light.

Some gamma-ray bursts come from two neutron stars that spiral into each other and crash, called short gamma-ray bursts.

Another type is called a long gamma-ray burst. These come from large dying stars that explode in supernovae.

Both types of gamma-ray bursts produce a pair of cones of superfast and superhot material, which can be seen from far.

But the gamma rays are only part of it! There's a display across the whole range of light, from radio to gamma rays.

You have to be in just the right place at the right time to see a gamma-ray burst. Otherwise, you’ll miss the show.

It’s hard to predict when a gamma-ray burst will happen, because there are a lot of different factors at play.

Luckily, we have detectors on a lot of spacecraft watching the entire sky to catch these cosmic fireworks!

Don’t worry about those gamma rays, though! Thankfully, Earth’s atmosphere shields us from them.

But we can learn so much about stars, black holes, and much more from some of the brightest lights in the universe.