Gamma Ray Bursts

[slaphapy]

has anyone heard of them?

.... and the many theories about where they come from?

what i have heard is they think that they come from an incredibly massive star (much larger than our sun) that dies and becomes a blackhole and in the process sends out enourmous energy bursts

[Dunenewt]

Gamma Rays are given of by most Radioactive substances

[slaphapy]

yes i know.. the sun gives off gama rays as well... but see these gamma rays are so incredibly enourmous that they travel all the way from the other side of the galaxy, and when they reach earth they are still incredibly huge... that's why they are so interested in it... in fact they are so huge that if there were to be one happen pretty close to earth, earth would be instintaneously (sp?) destroyed, everything would be instantly "cooked" you could say

[Dunenewt]

I wouldn't go that far due to our atmosphere and Van Allen belts but in space you have to be careful of Gamma rays

[slaphapy]

no that's why they are so interesting... they are so incredibly large... sereously these things are sooo big that they would go right through our atmosphere and everything on earth would die at once in flame

that's how big these are... but they are soooo far away that they dont' have much more affect on us then our sun... but we can see them and they are trying to figure out what exactly they come from, the star turning into a black hole and giving off the burst is just one theory, but they are trying to make more that make more sense than that one... but if one went off close enough to earth we would die instantly... BUT scientists do not think there are any stars in our galaxy that are even close to large enough to give off such a massive burst...