Tag Archive for 'Swift spacecraft'

GRB 160821B occurred in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy about two billion light-years away, at a projected offset of 52,185 light-years from the galaxy’s center. Image credit: Troja et al, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz2255.

Astronomers Detect New Kilonova Explosion

Aug 28, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers have re-examined data from GRB 160821B, a short duration gamma-ray burst spotted on August 21, 2016, and found evidence for a kilonova, an...

An artist’s impression of the GRB 190114C jet over time, and the small patches of magnetic fields. Image credit: Laskar et al.

Astronomers Capture First Polarized Radio Signal from Gamma-Ray Burst

Jun 21, 2019 by News Staff

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic explosions in the Universe, beaming out mighty jets which travel through space at 0.99 times the speed of...

An artist’s impression of an intermediate-mass black hole. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers See Best Evidence Yet of Intermediate-Mass Black Hole

Jun 20, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers know that small black holes — objects ranging from 10 times to 100 times the Sun’s mass — are the remnants of dying stars, and...

This artist’s impression shows two neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova. Such a very rare event is expected to produce both gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst, both of which were observed on August 17, 2017, by LIGO and Virgo collaborations. Image credit: ESO / L. Calcada / M. Kornmesser.

Space- and Ground-Based Telescopes Catch Light from Gravitational-Wave Event GW170817

Oct 17, 2017 by News Staff

For the first time, astronomers have observed the source of gravitational waves, created by the merger of two neutron stars. The cataclysmic aftermaths...

SMCN 2016-10a was discovered on October 14, 2016. Novae occur frequently in our Milky Way Galaxy, with a rate of around 35 each year, but SMCN 2016-10a is the first nova to have been detected in the Small Magellanic Cloud since 2012. Left: the nova system before eruption. Right: the nova system in outburst. Image credit: OGLE Survey.

Astronomers Discover One of Most Luminous Novae Ever

Oct 11, 2017 by News Staff

In a nearby dwarf galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud, astronomers have discovered possibly the most luminous nova ever. SMCN 2016-10a was discovered...

This illustration depicts a newly discovered brown dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Brown Dwarf 16,300 Light-Years Away

Nov 11, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational team of astronomers has spotted a brown dwarf orbiting a K-type dwarf star approximately 16,300 light-years away. The object was discovered...

This artist’s concept illustrates how KSw 71 compares with the Sun. Both stars are shown to scale. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Francis Reddy.

Astronomers Find Group of Fast-Spinning, X-ray Active Stars

Oct 29, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using observations from NASA’s Kepler and Swift space observatories have spotted 18 fast-spinning stars that produce X-rays at more than...

This X-ray image shows extended emission around the magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846. The glow arises from a cloud of fast-moving particles produced by the neutron star and corralled around it. Color indicates X-ray energies, with 2,000-3,000 electron volts (eV) in red, 3,000-4,500 eV in green, and 5,000 to 10,000 eV in blue. The image combines observations by XMM-Newton taken on March 16 and October 16, 2014. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / G. Younes et al.

‘Wind Nebula’ Spotted around Magnetar

Jun 22, 2016 by News Staff

Using ESA’s X-ray space observatory XMM-Newton, astronomers have spotted for the first time an enigmatic cloud of high-energy particles called a wind...

A supermassive black hole is depicted in this artist’s concept, surrounded by a swirling disk of material falling onto it. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Clue to How Supermassive Black Holes Emit X-ray Flares

Oct 29, 2015 by News Staff

In 2014, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and the agency’s Swift satellite observed an X-flare from the supermassive black hole...

The upper two panels of this graphic represent a possible explanation for a recent increase in X-ray flares from Sagittarius A* seen by three X-ray telescopes. As part of a long monitoring campaign, astronomers observed the black hole as a mysterious object called G2 appeared to pass close to the black hole. The timing of G2’s passage could suggest that material from G2 caused the surge in X-ray activity, but it is also possible that this unrelated behavior of Sagittarius A*. The bottom panel is a view of the region around the black hole where red, green, and blue represent low, medium, and high-energy X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Sagittarius A* itself is not visible in this image, but is embedded in the white dot at the end of the arrow. Image credit: NASA / CXC / MPE / G.Ponti et al. / M.Weiss.

X-Ray Observations of Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Reveal Unusual Activity

Sep 24, 2015 by News Staff

A long monitoring campaign of the Milky Way’s black hole, called Sagittarius A*, has revealed some unusual activity. Typically relatively quiet, the...

This artist’s impression shows a supernova and associated gamma-ray burst driven by a rapidly spinning magnetar. Image credit: ESO.

Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Bursts are Driven by Magnetars, Astronomers Say

Jul 9, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Jochen Greiner of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany, has demonstrated a link between the bright...

Artist’s impression of a black hole feasting on matter from its companion star in a binary system. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

V404 Cygni: Astronomers Detect Signs of Extraordinary Activity in Binary System

Jun 26, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using a fleet of orbiting telescopes, including ESA’s Integral satellite, NASA’s Swift satellite and the Japanese MAXI telescope, have...

An image from a simulation in which a Type Ia supernova explodes, as shown in brown. The supernova material is ejected outward at a velocity of about 10,000 km per second and slams into its companion star, as shown in light blue. The collision produces an UV pulse, which is emitted from the conical hole carved out by the companion star. Image credit: Dan Kasen, University of California Berkeley.

Astronomers Observe Supernova Smash into Companion Star

May 21, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers from the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) has witnessed a supernova smashing into a nearby white dwarf, shocking it,...

The dwarf galaxy Markarian 177 (center) and SDSS1133 (blue) lie 90 million light-years away. Image credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Astronomers Discover Mysterious Source of Light in Dwarf Galaxy Markarian 177

Nov 21, 2014 by News Staff

A multinational group of astronomers led by Dr Michael Koss of ETH Zurich has discovered an exotic object in a galaxy some 90 million light-years away. The...

The Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope aboard Swift captured SN 2014J, circled, on January 22, 2014. Image credit: NASA / Swift / P. Brown, TAMU.

SN 2014J: Swift Zooms in on New Supernova in Messier 82

Jan 28, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope aboard NASA’s Swift spacecraft have snapped an image of a newly discovered stellar explosion...

Optical afterglow of GRB 130427A. Image credit: J. Mats / H. Lars / H. Patrik.

GRB 130427A: Brightest Ever Gamma-Ray Burst Detected

Nov 21, 2013 by News Staff

An unusual stellar explosion observed on April 27, 2013 by NASA’s Swift satellite is the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded, says a multinational...

Swift Spacecraft Detected Unique Gamma-Ray Burst

Jan 8, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

NASA’s Swift spacecraft has detected a gamma-ray burst, called GRB 111209A, which is one of the longest events of this kind ever observed. The duration...