Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gamma ray burst
Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous physical phenomena in the universe known to the field of astronomy. They consist of flashes of gamma rays that last from seconds to hours, the longer ones being followed by several days of X-ray afterglow. These flashes occur at apparently random positions in the sky about once per day.
Related Stories
1
2
Space & Time News
July 11, 2026
July 10, 2026 A detailed independent study found that SpaceX's Starship is every bit as revolutionary as expected, while revealing both its impressive capabilities and its biggest remaining hurdles. It also introduces an ambitious European rocket concept that ...
July 10, 2026 Scientists have identified new clues that could help astronomers spot one of the most famous hypothetical alien megastructures: a Dyson sphere. The study finds that red dwarfs and white dwarfs are the most promising stars to examine, since advanced ...
July 8, 2026 Researchers have created an AI-based simulation that makes it much faster to model how neutron star mergers produce many of the universe's heaviest elements. The new tool could improve predictions of these powerful explosions while helping ...
July 7, 2026 Scientists have taken an important step toward building quantum detectors that could reveal some of the universe’s biggest secrets. Using a prototype device with two clouds of ultracold atoms, ...
July 6, 2026 Scientists are calling for a lunar quarantine facility where samples from Mars, the Moon, and beyond would be examined before being brought to Earth. They warn that even a tiny alien microorganism ...
July 3, 2026 Researchers have created quantum control techniques that can make a system appear to run backward in time. By precisely managing quantum measurements, they can reshape the system's arrow of time and even harvest energy from the measurement process ...
June 30, 2026 A strange gamma-ray glow at the center of the Milky Way has long sparked debate over whether it comes from hidden neutron stars or elusive dark matter. By applying machine learning to more than a million simulated observations, researchers included ...
June 29, 2026 Scientists are raising concerns that we may be overlooking evidence of extraterrestrial life even when it is present. Hidden biosignatures, limitations in detection technology, and assumptions about what life should look like can all create ...
June 29, 2026 A new AI-powered framework could transform how astronomers measure the expansion of the Universe. By analyzing images of Type Ia supernovae and modeling their environments in unprecedented detail, researchers can estimate cosmic distances with ...
June 23, 2026 SETI scientists searched the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS for radio signals that could indicate extraterrestrial technology but found nothing beyond human-made interference. Even so, the rapid-response observations helped confirm the object's ...
June 23, 2026 NASA’s upgraded Cold Atom Lab is turning the International Space Station into a frontier for quantum research, creating ultra-cold matter that behaves in astonishing ways. The experiments could ...
June 18, 2026 The race to build data centers in space is gaining momentum as AI drives unprecedented demand for computing power. Orbital facilities could tap into abundant solar energy and avoid many of the environmental challenges faced on Earth. Yet space ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
July 9, 2026 What if time doesn't actually exist until something changes? Scientists at the University of Birmingham created a tiny "mini universe" using 24,000 ultracold atoms and showed that the flow of time ...
July 9, 2026 A planet with one side permanently roasting and the other frozen in endless darkness might still have a chance of supporting life. Researchers found that heat inside a tidally locked exoplanet could ...
July 9, 2026 Astronomers have uncovered 31 of the oldest known quasars, including the two earliest ever detected, shining from a time when the universe was only about 670 million years old. Powered by ...
July 9, 2026 The hunt for ancient life on Mars just got an important test run. Scientists confirmed that the Rosalind Franklin rover's sophisticated instrument can detect subtle differences in two stable ...
July 7, 2026 What if one of the biggest assumptions in cosmology is wrong? New research suggests the universe may not be perfectly uniform in every direction, as scientists have long believed. A puzzling mismatch ...
July 6, 2026 A strange "chirping" signal from a distant supernova has revealed the birth of a magnetar, confirming that these incredibly magnetic neutron stars can power the universe's brightest stellar ...
July 5, 2026 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular red, white, and blue view of one of the Milky Way's oldest star clusters to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary. Hidden within the ...
July 5, 2026 Hubble has captured a spectacular view of LH 95, where about 2,500 young stars are still on their journey to becoming full-fledged stars. Scientists ...
July 4, 2026 Celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary, NASA released a stunning Hubble portrait of Messier 3, an ancient globular cluster with more than 500,000 stars. The remarkable cluster is helping ...
July 4, 2026 Researchers have proposed that black holes stop evaporating at the last moment, leaving behind tiny remnants that preserve all the information they contain. The same seven-dimensional geometry behind ...