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Astrophysics

Photons from a hotter hell

Nature volume 448, pages 760–761 (2007)Cite this article

Blazars are massive black holes sending out particle jets at close to the speed of light. Stupendously fast, intense bursts of highly energetic γ-rays indicate that the blazar environment is even more extreme than was thought.

Serendipity has always played a large part in astronomy. Detecting the short-lived, violent phenomena characteristic of high-energy astrophysics is a case in point. Catching these transient signals as they appear, dominate the sky briefly, and disappear again — perhaps never to be repeated — requires not only the right telescope, but also the luck of pointing it in the right direction. When technology and serendipity do come together, dramatic results can follow.

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Figure 1: Cosmic rollercoaster.
Figure 2: Eye on the sky.

R. WAGNER/ MPI PHYSIK

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trevor Weekes is at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA, and a visiting fellow at the School of Physics, University College Dublin, Ireland. tweekes@cfa.harvard.edu,

    Trevor Weekes

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  1. Trevor Weekes
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Weekes, T. Photons from a hotter hell. Nature 448, 760–761 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/448760a

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