ESA - Space Science - Dissecting a stellar explosion

Space Science

About Space Science ESA's 'Cosmic Vision'Science & Technology in-depth

Multimedia

Science images Science videos Animations Downloads Sounds from space

Media centre

Press Releases Press kits ESA Television

Resources

Reference section Glossary FAQs

Science missions

Services

Help Legal disclaimer Comments Subscribe

RSS feeds

ESA Sci on Twitter

Article Images

Dissecting a stellar explosion

3 April 2009

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 166 kb)

HI RES TIFF (Size: 701 kb)

This artist's impression illustrates how a gamma-ray burst can flare dramatically over a short time period (gamma ray bursts usually last between a hundredth of a second to a hundred seconds). The bursts can occur as often as several times a day. There is no way to predict when or where they will next occur.

ESA missions such as XMM-Newton, Integral and Ulysses study these mysterious, powerful bursts.

Credits: ESA (Illustration by AOES Medialab)

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 24 kb)

This artist's impression shows the centre of a dying star collapsing minutes before the star implodes. The blast from a Gamma Ray Burst is thought to be produced by a jet of fast-moving gas that bursts from near the central engine; probably a black hole created by such a collapse of the massive star.

Credits: NASA/Dana Berry

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 844 kb)

This is an artist’s impression of ESA’s orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral.

Credits: ESA

ESA's gamma-ray astronomy mission

ESApod

Integral anniversary

Around the world in 80 telescopes at ESA XMM-Newton and Integral clues on magnetic powerhouses Faint gamma-ray bursts do actually exist Integral locates origin of high-energy emission from Crab Nebula Astronomers may have glimpsed tiny star’s surface Integral reveals exotic and dusty binary systems Integral: Stellar winds colliding at our cosmic doorstep X-rays betray giant particle accelerator in the sky

In depth

This article in depth Integral in depth

Related ESA publications

Integral results leaflet (pdf)Integral mission brochure (pdf)