ESA’s Integral gamma-ray observatory has provided results that will dramatically affect the search for physics beyond Einstein.

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new supercomputer simulation shows the collision of two neutron stars can naturally produce the magnetic structures thought to power the high-speed particle jets associated with short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

An enormous eruption has found its way to Earth after traveling for many thousands of years across space.

Integral has captured one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen. A meticulous analysis of the data has allowed astronomers to investigate the initial phases of this giant stellar explosion, which led to the ejection of matter at velocities close to the speed of light.

UK astronomers, using a telescope aboard the NASA Swift Satellite, have captured information from the early stages of a gamma ray burst - the most violent and luminous explosions occurring in the Universe since the Big Bang.