1999 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| GAMMA RAY BURSTS LIGHT THE WAY TO THE DAWN OF TIME | G99-086 | 11/2/99 | 00:03:05 | Gamma ray bursts, the most powerful explosions known, can now be used to explore the remotest reaches of space and time. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center used the data to uncover a pattern in the burst's behavior that determines the bursts' true brightness and distance. The bursts' extreme brightness will let them be used as cosmic beacons to locate where and when star-birth regions formed, even if the newly born stars and galaxies can't yet be seen with current telescopes. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): GAMMA RAY BURST EXPLOSION - One of many explanations for gamma ray bursts is a hypernova, an exploding star a hundred times more powerful that a typical exploding star, called a supernova. After a massive red-giant star exhausts its fuel, its heart of iron is crushed under its own until it becomes black hole. The middle layers of the star spiral into the black hole, heating up and causing a tremendous explosion. Jets of material are ejected at almost the speed of light. The explosion then rips through the outer layers of the star, blasting them into space.
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| ITEM (2): GAMMA RAY BURSTS IN THE SKY - Gamma ray bursts occur several times a day without warning, and release more energy than any event in the Universe. NASA scientists recently discovered a way to determine the true brightness and distance for any gamma-ray burst. With the distance information, the bursts' extreme brightness will let them be used as cosmic beacons to locate where and when star-birth regions formed, even if the newly born stars and galaxies can't yet be seen with present telescopes.
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| ITEM (3): COMPTON GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY - The new analysis was performed using data from NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and several optical telescopes. |
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