NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dying Supergiant Stars Implicated in Hours-long Gamma-Ray Bursts

Three unusually long-lasting stellar explosions discovered by NASA's Swift satellite represent a new class of gamma-ray bursts that likely arise from dying stars hundreds of times larger than the sun.

NASA's Swift Sizes Up Comet ISON

The Swift satellite observed a comet that may become one of the most dazzling seen in decades when it rounds the sun later this year.

NASA's Swift, Chandra Explore a Youthful 'Star Wreck'

NASA's Swift satellite has uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star which ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy.

An Image Gallery Gift from NASA's Swift

The Swift team has selected more than 100 images to help celebrate eight years of operations of the satellite's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope.

Study: Remarkable Symmetry in Black Hole Jets

High-speed jets launched from active black holes possess fundamental similarities regardless of mass, age or environment, a new study finds.

Astronomers Catch Binging Black Hole's Jet

A new X-ray source in the Andromeda galaxy is the first detection of radio-emitting jets from a stellar-mass black hole outside the Milky Way.

Colossal Binary's Clashing Winds

An enormous binary star pair some 4,700 light-years away pounds its surroundings with intense outflows called stellar winds.

Swift Discovers a New Black Hole in our Galaxy

Swift recently detected the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole.

Star's 'Cry' Heralds New Era for Testing Relativity

Researchers have observed a distinctive X-ray signal following a black hole's eruption that comes from matter on the verge of falling into it.

Hubble, Swift Detect First-Ever Changes in an Exoplanet Atmosphere

Astronomers have made an unparalleled observation: significant changes in the atmosphere of a planet located beyond our solar system.

Committee on Space Research Honors NASA's Neil Gehrels for Science Contributions

The Committee on Space Research recently announced an award to NASA Astrophysicist Neil Gehrels for research in space science.

NASA's Swift Monitors Departing Comet Garradd

Outbound comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) provided a nice show for skywatchers last year. Now, it's the target of an ongoing investigation.

Swift Narrows Down Hosts of Important Supernova Class

Studies using X-ray and ultraviolet observations from NASA's Swift satellite are providing new insights into the elusive origins of an important class of exploding star, called Type Ia supernovas.

Andromeda Galaxy Pops Up Ultraluminous X-ray Sources

Researchers using multiple NASA space observatories have been studying an object known as an ultraluminous X-ray source in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.

Swift Finds a Gamma-Ray Burst With a Dual Personality

A peculiar cosmic explosion seen by the Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was either a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home

NASA's Swift Catches Asteroid Flyby

As asteroid 2005 YU55 swept past Earth in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Swift monitored the fast-moving space rock.

How A Distant Black Hole Devoured A Star

Two studies in the Aug. 25 issue of Nature provide new insights into a cosmic accident that has been streaming X-rays toward Earth.

NASA's Swift Sees Star Gobbled Up by Black Hole

Swift discovered a series of powerful X-ray blasts coming from a source in the constellation Draco.

Nearby Galaxy Boasts Two Monster Black Holes

NASA satellites have found a second super-sized black hole at the heart of an unusual nearby galaxy already known to be sporting one.

Swift Finds Most Distant Gamma-ray Burst Yet

After two years of painstaking analysis, astronomers say a stellar blast observed by Swift was the farthest explosion yet identified.

Swift and Hubble Probe Asteroid Collision Debris

On Dec. 11, 2010,asteroid Scheila flared twice as bright as expected. Hubble and Swift captured the aftermath of this deep space collision.

Study Confirms Engine of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

A new supercomputer simulation gives the most detailed view of the forces driving some of the universe's most energetic explosions.

NASA Telescopes Observe Unprecedented Explosion

Usually, gamma-ray bursts last hours, marking the destruction of a massive star, but three telescopes have now zoomed in on one lasting for days.

Swift Survey Finds 'Missing' Active Galaxies

An international team of scientists using data from NASA's Swift satellite confirms the existence of a largely unseen population of black-hole-powered galaxies.

NASA's Swift Catches 500th Gamma-ray Burst

Swift primarily studies gamma-ray bursts, the biggest and most mysterious explosions in the cosmos. On April 13, Swift's "burst-o-meter" cataloged its 500th GRB.

Newborn Black Holes Boost Power

Astronomers have found evidence that two supernovae blasts received an extra boost from newborn black holes.

Magnetic Power Revealed in Gamma-Ray Burst Jet

A specialized camera on a telescope operated by U.K. astronomers from Liverpool has made the first measurement of magnetic fields in the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB).

Satellites Tune Into a Middleweight Black Hole

Astronomers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date.

Swift's Ultraviolet Portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy

In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet.

European Satellites Probe a New Magnetar

NASA's Swift satellite detected a rare interstellar object known as a soft gamma repeater, or SGR. The object is only the fifth confirmed SGR.

New Gamma-Ray Burst Smashes Cosmic Distance Record

NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old.

Swift’s Comet Tally Highlighted in Observatory Webcast

A montage of comet images made using NASA’s Swift spacecraft illustrates just how different three comets can be.

NASA's Swift Spies Comet Lulin

While waiting for high-energy outbursts and cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite is monitoring Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth.

Swift, Fermi Probe Gamma-Ray Fireworks

Astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are seeing frequent blasts from a stellar remnant 30,000 light-years away.

Gamma-Ray Burst Offers First Peek at a Young Galaxy's Star Factory

Astronomers have, for the first time, identified gas molecules in the host galaxy of a gamma-ray burst.

NASA's Swift Shows Active Galaxies Are Different Near and Far

An ongoing X-ray survey undertaken by NASA's Swift spacecraft is revealing differences between nearby active galaxies and those located about halfway across the universe.

Swift Looks to Comets for a Cool View

Swift caught sight of a splintered comet fragment as it passed by the Ring Nebula.

A Star That Bursts, Blinks and Disappears

Astronomers are reporting on a strange case where one of the littlest of stars "twinkled" with gamma rays, X-rays, and light -- and then vanished.

Swift Naked Eye Telecon Main Page

NASA will hold a media teleconference Wednesday, September 10, at 1 p.m. EDT to discuss new results regarding the naked-eye gamma-ray burst, the brightest seen to date.

NASA's Swift Spots Farthest Gamma-Ray Burst

NASA's Swift satellite has found the most distant gamma-ray burst ever detected. The blast arose from a star 12.8 billion light-years away.

NASA's Swift Catches a Star Going 'Kaboom!'

Thanks to NASA's Swift satellite, astronomers have seen a star actually blow up.

Pipsqueak Star Unleashes Monster Flare

On April 25, NASA’s Swift satellite picked up a record-setting flare from a star known as EV Lacertae.

NASA's Swift Sees Double Supernova in Galaxy

In just the past six weeks, two supernovae have flared up in an obscure galaxy in the constellation Hercules.

Hybrids in the Universe?

Scientists recently made a discovery that forced them to re-think their theories on the most powerful explosions in the cosmos - gamma ray bursts.

Twin Star Explosions Fascinate Astronomers

Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite stumbled upon a rare sight, two supernovae side by side in one galaxy.

Monster Stellar Flare Seen by NASA Scientists Dwarfs All Others

Monster flare was perhaps the most energetic magnetic stellar explosion ever detected.

Scientists Detect New Kind of Cosmic Explosion

This new cosmic explosion which appears to be a precursor to a supernova will achieve peak brightness within a week.

Cosmic Explosion Could Be Black Hole Swallowing Neutron Star

Cosmic Explosion Among the Brightest in Recorded History

Scientists have detected a flash of light brighter than anything ever detected from beyond our Solar System.

Black Hole Births, Gamma Ray Bursts -- Swift Sees All

The Swift satellite will be able to detect and study the black hole/gamma ray burst connection.

Seeing Triple

Swift's trio of telescopes see gamma-ray bursts like never before.

A Flash in the Cosmic Pan

Catching gamma-ray bursts is harder than bottling lighting.

Swift Sees the Light

NASA's Swift spacecraft brings you an unpredictable universal event in real time.

A Gamma-Ray Burst ... In Our Own Backyard

Data from a powerful gamma-ray burst may tell us more about a mysterious type of black hole.