A cosmic explosion with an energy equivalent to the output of a billion suns went unnoticed by astronomers until they caught ...

An illustration of two stellar-mass black holes merging in the accretion disk of an active galactic nucleus. (Shu-Rui Zhang) ...

In November 2024, gravitational-wave detectors recorded the violent merger of two black holes billions ...

GRB 230906A, a short gamma-ray burst first detected in 2023, points to a faint galaxy embedded within a long stream of torn ...

A Black Hole May Have Eaten a Star and Produced the Longest Gamma-Ray Burst Ever Recorded ...

When space telescopes blazed with high-energy radiation for hours earlier this year, astronomers suspected that they were witnessing something special. The cosmic flash GRB 250702B was no ...

On Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, a pulse of intense radiation swept through the solar system so exceptional that astronomers quickly dubbed it the BOAT – the brightest of all time. The source was a gamma-ray ...

Astronomers are trying to understand what caused a series of gamma ray bursts, or GRBs — the most powerful explosions in the universe. These energetic bursts are typically unleashed by the incendiary ...

Lightning is a phenomenon that has fascinated humanity since time immemorial, providing a stark example of the power and unpredictability of the natural world. Although the study of lightning can be ...

When faraway stars explode, they send out flashes of energy called gamma-ray bursts that are bright enough that telescopes back on Earth can detect them. Studying these pulses, which can also come ...

Down here at the bottom of our ocean of air, it’s easy to get complacent about the hazards our universe presents. We feel safe from the dangers of the vacuum of space, where radiation sizzles and ...

In its first five years in orbit, NASA’s Swift satellite has given astronomers more than they could have hoped for. Its discoveries range from a nearby nascent supernova to a blast so far away that it ...