Welcome to the companion Web site to "Death Star,"
originally broadcast on
January 8, 2002. The program probes the deep mysteries of gamma-ray bursts, the
most powerful celestial explosions since the big bang.
Here's what you'll find online:
One Astronomer's Universe
What's it like to think cosmological thoughts all day? How does one get one's mind around such concepts as black holes or billions of light-years? Where do the greatest satisfactions lie for one in this field? Here, Dutch astrophysicist Paul Groot offers his reasons for pondering the imponderable.
A Bad Day in the Milky Way
Astrophysicist Jerry Bonnell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes what could happen to our planet if a gamma-ray burst occurred nearby in our own galaxy. You don't want to know.
Catalogue of the Cosmos
Gamma-ray bursts are just one of myriad marvels in the heavens. In this celestial glossary, learn the difference between pulsars and quasars, antimatter and dark matter, brown dwarfs and white dwarfs, and many other extraterrestrial wonders.
Tour the Spectrum (Hot Science)
Radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, X-rays, and gamma rays are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Get a comprehensive view of all the rays and waves in this self-guided tour.