The NASA telescope known as Swift was “blinded” by a gamma-ray burst that astrophysicists believe to be activity from a dying star forming a black hole in deep space.
“This gamma-ray burst is by far the brightest light source ever seen in X-ray wavelengths at cosmological distances,” said lead Swift scientist David Burrows, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, in a news release.
The Swift telescope – named after a small, agile bird – registered a digital recording that blocked the device from being able to see past the light after a gamma-ray burst. Swift technicians said that the telescope was temporarily “blinded” – though not damaged, by the high concentration of X-rays resulting from the initial gamma ray blast.
Gamma-ray bursts are a violent eruption of energy from the explosion of a massive star morphing into a new black hole, scientists said in the release.
NASA scientists estimated that the gamma-rays traveled five billion light years before reaching the Swift sensors. No studies have been conducted by any other scientific organizations to determine the source of the gamma rays, but based on current knowledge, the collapse of a star is the only known energy source able of creating such a powerful blast, according to the release.
The recent activity came less than two months after a full briefing by NASA on the findings from the Swift telescope mission.
Although the Swift satellite was designed specifically to study gamma-ray bursts, the instrument was not designed to handle an X-ray blast this bright.
“The intensity of these X-rays was unexpected and unprecedented” Neil Gehrels, Swift’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in the release.
“This gamma-ray burst is by far the brightest light source ever seen in X-ray wavelengths at cosmological distances,” said lead Swift scientist David Burrows, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, in a news release.
The Swift telescope – named after a small, agile bird – registered a digital recording that blocked the device from being able to see past the light after a gamma-ray burst. Swift technicians said that the telescope was temporarily “blinded” – though not damaged, by the high concentration of X-rays resulting from the initial gamma ray blast.
Gamma-ray bursts are a violent eruption of energy from the explosion of a massive star morphing into a new black hole, scientists said in the release.
NASA scientists estimated that the gamma-rays traveled five billion light years before reaching the Swift sensors. No studies have been conducted by any other scientific organizations to determine the source of the gamma rays, but based on current knowledge, the collapse of a star is the only known energy source able of creating such a powerful blast, according to the release.
The recent activity came less than two months after a full briefing by NASA on the findings from the Swift telescope mission.
Although the Swift satellite was designed specifically to study gamma-ray bursts, the instrument was not designed to handle an X-ray blast this bright.
“The intensity of these X-rays was unexpected and unprecedented” Neil Gehrels, Swift’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in the release.
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