GETTING TO GRIPS WITH GAMMARAY BURSTS
The history behind the biggest and brightest explosions in the universe
1 A star is born
A massive star begins its life cycle, from a protostar to a blue supergiant.
3 Burning out
The star rapidly burns through its fuel and explodes in a gigantic release of energy.
2 Bright future
Massive stars burn bright, but have short lives compared to the main sequence.
4 Black hole
A black hole is formed as nothing is capable of stopping the collapse of the star’s mass.
5 Gamma rays
In this rare and unexplained event, energetic streams of gamma rays are released as jets.