Swift Telescope
A Black Hole Nibbles on a Star Every 22 Days, Slowly Consuming it
Astronomers working with NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have spotted something unusual. The observatory's X-Ray Telescope (XRT) has captured emissions…
Astronomers Track a Neutrino Back to the Source. Where a Black Hole Tore Apart a Star
Neutrinos are notoriously finicky particles. Hundreds of trillions pass through a person’s body every second, yet they hardly seem to…
Update: Possible ‘Nearby’ Gamma Ray Burst Alert Was False Alarm
Following the late night news yesterday of a possible gamma ray burst in our next door neighboring galaxy Andromeda, it…
Possible Gamma Ray Burst Detected in Andromeda, Would be Closest Ever Observed
Update (5/28/14 9:20 am EDT): This alert may have been a false alarm. Further analysis showed the initial brightness was…
Our Galactic Neighbors Shine In New Ultraviolet Pictures
Earth's galactic next-door neighbors shine brighter than ever in new pictures taken by an orbiting telescope, focusing on ultraviolet light…
How Much Light Has The Universe Created Since the Big Bang?
The universe, most cosmologists tell us, began with a bang. At some point, the lights turned on. How much light…
Bright, Long-Lasting GRB Sets Energy Output Record
Last weekend (April 27, 2013), the Fermi and Swift spacecraft witnessed a “shockingly” bright burst of gamma rays from a…
What Happens When the Winds of Giant Stars Collide?
XMM-Newton observation of the core of the very massive cluster Cyg OB2 located in the constellation of Cygnus, 4700 light-years…
Rare X-Ray Nova Reveals a New Black Hole in the Milky Way
Swift J1745-26, with a scale of the moon as it would appear in the field of view from Earth. This…
Swift Satellite Captures Asteroid 2005 YU55’s Tumbling Flyby
If you want to photograph something in space, what better way than to have a spacecraft take the picture? The…