sharon sanders
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[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Record-Breaking X-Ray Blast Blinds Space Observatory Briefly
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Clara Moskowitz
SPACE.com Senior Writer
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica]posted: 14 July 2010
05:16 pm ET[/FONT]
A violent cosmic explosion has unleashed the brightest blast of X-rays ever detected from distant space, a signal so bright it temporary blinded the NASA space telescope assigned to spot it.
The powerful explosion, called a gamma-ray burst, was detected by NASA's Swift observatory, scientists announced Wednesday. Gamma-ray bursts are narrow beams of intense radiation shot out when stars explode in supernovas. In addition to gamma-ray light, they also produce X-rays and other forms of radiation, including visible light.
This recent event, dubbed GRB 100621A, was particularly powerful.
"This gamma-ray burst is by far the brightest light source ever seen in X-ray wavelengths at cosmological distances," said Penn State University astronomer David Burrows, lead scientist for Swift's X-ray Telescope. [Swift's gamma-ray burst photo]
snip
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/brightest-x-rays-blind-telescopes-100714.html
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Record-Breaking X-Ray Blast Blinds Space Observatory Briefly
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Clara Moskowitz
SPACE.com Senior Writer
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica]posted: 14 July 2010
05:16 pm ET[/FONT]
A violent cosmic explosion has unleashed the brightest blast of X-rays ever detected from distant space, a signal so bright it temporary blinded the NASA space telescope assigned to spot it.
The powerful explosion, called a gamma-ray burst, was detected by NASA's Swift observatory, scientists announced Wednesday. Gamma-ray bursts are narrow beams of intense radiation shot out when stars explode in supernovas. In addition to gamma-ray light, they also produce X-rays and other forms of radiation, including visible light.
This recent event, dubbed GRB 100621A, was particularly powerful.
"This gamma-ray burst is by far the brightest light source ever seen in X-ray wavelengths at cosmological distances," said Penn State University astronomer David Burrows, lead scientist for Swift's X-ray Telescope. [Swift's gamma-ray burst photo]
snip
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/brightest-x-rays-blind-telescopes-100714.html
