Spinning space probe to record the 'birth cries' of black holes

[emad]

The Independent
By James Burleigh
22 November 2004


A new space observatory was rocketing into orbit yesterday preparing to scan the universe for the most violent celestial explosions since the Big Bang.

The $250m (£135m) Nasa probe - named Swift for its speedy pivoting and pointing - will detect and analyse gamma ray bursts, which astronomers believe represent the birth screams of black holes.

Lasting just a few seconds on average, the bursts appear out of nowhere like flashlight beams and are thought to signal the formation of black holes.

The observatory, which was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday, carries three telescopes that work together: the Burst Alert telescope built by the US space agency's Goddard research centre; an X-ray telescope built by Penn State University, the University of Leicester and the Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera; and an ultraviolet optical telescope, made by Penn State and University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=585384

[klook]

1. NASA finds new funding angle

Make all explorations "pro-life." If they can record the "birth screams" of black holes, that will resonate with the Religious Right. Partial Birth Screams would be even better.

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. ROTFLMAO n/t

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. I just read a thread concerning

Bush fascist regime taking the USofA back to the 18th century with its God centered government

and then I read this cool science thread

I am in a Bizarro world !!

[SnowGoose]

4. Let's enjoy real science before it's gone.

Just last night my wife and I were speculating on what could have been accomplished over the next decades if the money we'd spent in Iraq had been spent on science instead. Boggling.

But as the budgets get tighter and the economy circles the drain, don't expect science to keep pace - it does take money to do science.