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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Massive Cosmic Explosion Has Astronomers Stumped


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NASA's Swift spacecraft captured gamma-ray burst 060614 with its x-ray telescope.

Gamma-ray bursts are believed to precede the births of black holes and are generally thought to fall into two classes—long (two seconds or more) or short. Burst 060614, however, has mystified scientists by combining traits of both long and short gamma-ray bursts.

Image by the Swift Team, courtesy NASA