Catching Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) hunters rely on satellites like Swift which detects the GRB and immediately relays the information to observers worldwide via the Gamma-Ray Burst Coordinates Network. Automated telescopes, like the Palomar 60-inch, get the coordinates of the event directly and react immediately.

Other telescopes such as the 200-inch Hale Telescope, the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and orbiting space telescopes such as Hubble and Spitzer will often turn their instruments to study the regions surrounding GRB in the hours and days after an event.

Click the button below left to see the animation again or the telescope button to learn about Palomar observations of GRBs.

   

                               

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