Gamma ray bursts pose one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy. About once per day, the sky above our heads lights up with a flash practically invisible to the naked eye but yet very spectacular: a burst of gamma rays. These are perhaps the most violent events in the universe but at present, we don't even know what causes them.
This programme outlines how ESA's Integral gamma ray observatory will to be launched on 17 October 2002 will hunt for gamma rays. It includes recordings made at scientific institutes in Denmark and Switzerland.
The programme comprises of an A-roll with split track and English commentary and is complemented by a B-Roll with clean international sound.

GAMMA RAY BURSTS
00:40
Gamma ray bursts pose one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy. About once per day, the sky above our heads lights up with a flash practically invisible to the naked eye but yet very spectacular: a burst of gamma rays. It is so spectacular because, in most instances, a gamma ray burst outshines all other sources of cosmic gamma rays added together. The source of the burst disappears altogether after a few seconds. No one can predict when the next burst will occur or from what direction in the sky it will come. At present, we don't even know what causes these flashes or how far away they are!
01:23
But one thing is for sure: gamma ray bursts are extremely distant and must be caused by tremendous explosions. Several hypothesis have been presented by scientists - - including the explosion of so-called hyper-novae - exceptionally violent supernovae, or the mergers of neutron stars or black holes.
01:43
Together with NASA's gamma-ray burst mission SWIFT, which is due