| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Possible Gamma Ray Burst Detected in Andromeda, Would be Closest Ever Observed
Raw data showing the raw gamma ray light curve from a possible Gamma Ray Burst in M31 on May 27, 2014 obtained by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. Credit: Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA
Something went boom in the Andromeda Galaxy, our next door neighbor. The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst telescope detected a sudden bright emission of gamma rays. Astronomers aren’t sure yet if it was a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) or an Ultraluminous X-Ray (ULX) or even an outburst from a low-mass x-ray binary (LMXB), but whatever it turns out to be, it will be the closest event of this kind that we’ve ever observed.
One of the previous closest GRBs was 2.6 billion light-years away, while Andromeda is a mere 2.5 million light years away from Earth. Even though this would be the closest burst to Earth, there is no danger of our planet getting fried by gamma rays.
(…)
Read the rest of Possible Gamma Ray Burst Detected in Andromeda, Would be Closest Ever Observed (367 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2014. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Post tags: gamma ray burst, GRB, Swift Telescope
Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/112194/possible-gamma-ray-burst-detected-in-andromeda-would-be-closest-ever-observed/
