spacetoday.net: NASA telescopes observing unusual GRB

NASA telescopes observing unusual GRB

Posted: Fri, Apr 8, 2011, 10:58 AM ET (1458 GMT)
GRB 110328A as seen by Chandra (NASA/CXC/A. Levan)

Several NASA telescopes are working in tandem to observe a gama-ray burst (GRB) that has lasted far longer than usual. The event, designated GRB 110328A, was detected by NASA's Swift spacecraft on March 28. While GRBs usually last only a few hours, but Swift and other telescopes continue to detect high-energy emissions from it. Astronomers have used other space telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, to find that the GRB is located at the center of a galaxy 3.8 billion light-years away. Astronomers speculate that this burst is caused by a star being captured by the massive black hole at the galaxy's center, generating a jet of particles aimed in our direction.