The satellite is likely to repeat its debut performance hundreds of times, helping reveal what happens in the chaotic moments after huge stars collapse to form new black holes. (sciencemag.org)
Most astrophysicists think that gamma ray bursts, fantastically energetic flares from deep space, stream from new black holes that form when the cores of massive spinning stars collapse to trigger supernovas. (sciencemag.org)
X-rays stream from the hottest, most violent parts of the blast wave, so astrophysicists expect that analysis will yield insights into the physics of how new black holes spew titanic jets of energy into space. (sciencemag.org)