Gamma Ray Bursts emit tremendous amounts of high-energy gamma-rays in an extrememly short period of time (event durations can range anywhere from much less than a second to many minutes). While these events have been observed since the 1960's (we observe them occurring at a rate of about once a month), astronomers have not been completely able to explain basic questions such as their origin and their distance. However, the BeppoSAX satellite has been helping astronomers shed light on GRBs the last ~4 years by rapidly identifying precise locations of GRBs within seconds of their occurrence; other telescopes can on-source more quickly to study the GRB. Astronomers are pretty certain nowdays that they occur at cosmological distances/high redshift (i.e., billions of light years away).

 

Introductions

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Gamma-Ray Bursts Search (A.P.O.D. always includes helpful captions with their pics) Gamma-Ray Astronomy--a general intro from NASA Gamma-Ray Bursts-- a general-level page at Goddard Space Flight Ctr Click here for more related sites

GRB experiments (detectors, results)

Gamma Ray Bursts Imaged by BeppoSAX          BeppoSAX Home Page Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope  Gamma-Ray Bursts: Recent Developments--Penn State page; includes GRB Afterglows and Counterparts Click here for more related sites