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Swift

X-ray Burst May Be the First Sign of a Supernova

December 8, 2012

Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter GRB 080913, a distant supernova detected by Swift. This image merges the view through Swift’s UltraViolet and Optical Telescope, which shows bright stars, and its X-ray Telescope. Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler The first moments of a massive star going supernova may be [...]

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A Star’s Dying Scream May Be a Beacon for Physics

August 13, 2012

When a star suffered an untimely demise at the hands of a hidden black hole, astronomers detected its doleful, ululating wail — in the key of D-sharp, no less — from 3.9 billion light-years away. The resulting ultraluminous X-ray blast revealed the supermassive black hole’s presence at the center of a distant galaxy in March [...]

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Data from Black Hole’s Edge Provides New Test of Relativity

August 2, 2012

From a NASA press release: Last year, astronomers discovered a quiescent black hole in a distant galaxy that erupted after shredding and consuming a passing star. Now researchers have identified a distinctive X-ray signal observed in the days following the outburst that comes from matter on the verge of falling into the black hole. Remove [...]

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Exoplanet’s Atmosphere Undergoes Dramatic Variations

June 28, 2012

Since its discovery in 2005, exoplanet HD 189733b has been one of the most-observed extra solar planets, due to its size, compact orbit, proximity to Earth and enticing blue-sky atmosphere. But astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Swift Telescope have witnessed dramatic changes in the planet’s upper atmosphere following a violent flare from [...]

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Did a Neutron Star Create the “Christmas Burst”?

December 1, 2011

On December 25, 2010, at 1:38 p.m. EST, NASA’s Swift Burst Alert Telescope detected a particularly long-lived gamma-ray burst in the constellation Andromeda. Lasting nearly half an hour, the burst (known as GRB 101225A) originated from an unknown distance, leaving astronomers to puzzle over exactly what may have created such a dazzling holiday display. Now [...]

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