ES - For those of you interested in Astronomy...

[Sharon P.]

Greetings!

Saturday, Jan 23, 1999, at 4:47 am, the earth witnessed a sudden gamma ray
burst, detected and recorded near the constellations of the Corona Borealis
and Bootes.  The burst lasted no more than 110 seconds.  (To find Bootes,
look to the north about 6-7 am, following the arch of the big dipper to ‘arc
’ to the nearest brightest star, Arcturus, which is the star at the tip of
the constellation. It loosely resembles an ice cream cone. Next to it, is
the Corona borealis, which resembles a small semi circle.)

This is one of the most powerful explosions in the Universe, and happens so
quickly, that only pictures after previous explosions exist. However,
because of a complex network of satellites, telescopes, computers, and the
internet, scientists all over the world were able to track this event during
the burst.  It was noted that the visible light peaked at a different time
than the gamma rays (which are not visible to human eyes).   Within 22
seconds of the initial notification, instruments began recording this
incredible event.

The burst reached a 9 magnitude of brightness, which means it was visible
with the aid of binoculars. "If this burst had originated in the Milky Way
Galaxy, it would have lit up the night sky," said Dr. Alan Bunner, Director
of NASA's Structure and Evolution of the Universe science theme at NASA
Headquarters.

This gamma burst is important because it will help scientist understand the
physical process of this type of mysterious phenomenon, which could be
caused by collisions of certain types of stars or events.  A light year is
the speed of the light traveling one year (5.88 trillion miles).  The
originating source of this blast was so far away, it took 10 billion years
to reach us.

Vivaine Taarnfalk

source: www.nasa.gov, Jan 28, 1999


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