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We could have just seen the most powerful explosion ever

I see your GOAT and raise you a BOAT.

Gold doesn't fall out of the sky - but it's created in the heavens

Research based on recent observations of a nearby gamma-ray burst, GRB 130603B, help explain how gold, silver and other heavy metal atoms are created.

Light from huge explosion 12 billion years ago reaches Earth

Intense light from a huge explosion (a gamma ray burst) that took place shortly after the birth of the Universe (12 billion years ago) has reached Earth, and was observed by researchers. Gamma Ray bursts are the strongest explosions since the Big Bang – in just 10 seconds, they release more energy than our sun in […]

In a Rainbow Universe, time may have no beginning

It’s one of the most alluring but hard to prove (and unlikely) theories: a Rainbow Universe. A Universe in which time simply stretches back indefinitely, without a big bang to start things off, simply with no beginning – something pretty hard to fathom. The name comes from the so-called Rainbow Gravity; basically gravity’s effects on […]

Armada of instruments witness the brightest cosmic event of the century: the birth of a black hole

Astronomers all over the world rejoiced recently after they were treated to a most privileged event. Using the RAPTOR (RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response) system in New Mexico and Hawaii, in conjunction with the most sophisticated observatories in the world, researchers witnessed what may be the most brightest event this century: an extreme flash of light […]

Earth was hit by a massive gamma-ray burst in the 8th century

The most powerful explosion in the Universe – a gamma-ray burst–  might have hit Earth during the middle ages. Luckily enough for our ancestors the event had its origin thousands of light years away and its effects went by unnoticed. Last year, scientists found  unusual levels of radioactive carbon-14 in cedar trees in Japan and spikes […]

Most powerful stars are actually vampire binary systems. The weaker feeds on the stronger

A new research has found that the massively powerful O-type stars, which can be up to 90 times more powerful than our own sun, actually come in pairs most of the time, as a binary system. The two stars wrapper in this dance have a special kind of relationship developed with one another. Thus, one […]

Astronomers paint a clearer picture of how supernovae are born

Supernovae are one of the most energetic and brightest events in the cosmos, often so powerful they outshine whole galaxies. They’re considered  to play a major role in our understanding of the Universe, which is why scientists have invested so much time and effort into studying them. A recent study of X-ray and ultraviolet observations from […]

One third of the discovered gamma rays so far have unknown sources

Set it went into operation, Fermi’s Large Area Telescope has detected 1873 gamma rays out in space, of which only two thirds have had their sources traced. Typically, gamma rays are huge bursts of energy generated by the collision between two stars or by black holes, however more than 600 discovered blasts still don’t have an explanation […]

Gamma-ray bursts might cause mass extinction on Earth

Most of us tend to believe the Earth is a safe heaven, with little regard to outerwordly consequences. The truth is our planet, although without a doubt a true gem within our galaxy, is susceptible to a slew of events triggered from within or well beyond our solar system. A lot of them are very […]

Intense Gamma Ray blast indeed traced back to supermassive black hole

We previously reported about an incredible gamma ray burst triggered by a black hole, so powerful that nothing like this was observed before, or even dimmed possible. A recently published paper in the journal Science sheds more light on the subject. A typical gamma ray burst commonly occurs when massive stars explode due to collisions […]

Dormant Supermassive black hole arises stronger than ever

It’s still unclear if it was all about a stellar meal or if it was simply gas, or some other relatively unimportant phenomena that awoken the sleeping giant, but for the first time, astronomers have observed the awakening of a sleeping supermassive black hole. The sleeping giant It appeared to be a day just like […]

Black hole in Dragon's belly swallows star and everything goes nutty from here

  The Draco constellation (which is Latin for Dragon) is located at about 3.8 billion light years from Earth; just like every dragon that has at least some common sense, it breathes fire, especially after carelessly eating a nearby star. Rewind. A mysterious cosmic blast in the Draco constellation is causing waves that continue to […]