GODDARD, Md., March 9 (UPI) -- U.S. astronomers say data from a NASA satellite gave them groundbreaking information about gamma-ray bursts, or the deaths of large stars in the universe.
Gamma-ray bursts can release as much energy in a few seconds as the earth's sun will radiate in its 10-billion-year lifetime, NASA said.
Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Center said they have in the past observed gamma-ray bursts over the course of a few days or weeks, but a dying star observed by NASA's Swift satellite last year remained detectable for 125 days.
The slowly fading afterglow has important ramifications for astrology, said Penn State astronomer Dirk Groupe.
"It requires a larger energy injection than we normally see in bursts, and may require continuous energy input from the central engine," he said.
Groupe is the lead author of a paper about the gamma-ray burst scheduled to appear in the June 20 edition of Astrophysical Journal.
