What are Gamma Ray Bursts
an essay by
Candi Rayton
Don't you just love big explosions? Lots of holos start off with them, engulfing everything in the view field with fire. Human beings are attracted to bright things that go pfffft. I believe that this is why gamma ray bursts are such a big deal on Spectra. I know that we are poised at the edge of the solar system and all, ready to look out and observe, but when you think what a gamma ray burst really is, the explosive death of a star, which may or may not then become a black hole, it's a little bit morbid, don't you think?
I don't know. It's an awesome display of pure energy, and we're sure never going to make an explosion that big. The distance record for us seeing one of these bursts was set a long time ago. On April 23, 2009, scientists first observed event GRB 090423. * Read the NASA report here * Infared dropout places the source of the burst at 13 BILLION light years away. I've lived in space all my life, but I still can't get my brain around these vast distances. My dad says that with the new lense they're installing on Spectra's main telescope, we're bound to see a gamma ray burst from even farther away soon.
Candi's story is The Fear of Falling
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