A critical NASA mission to save the Swift Observatory has suffered a last-minute technical setback, leaving the scientific community on edge. The telescope, which has been vital for detecting powerful gamma-ray bursts from deep space since 2004, risks falling back to Earth before October 2026 if this multi-million dollar space rescue is not successfully executed soon.
The US space agency and Katalyst Space Technologies are preparing a historic $30 million mission to raise the orbit of the gamma-ray observatory, which is rapidly losing altitude due to intense solar activity. If successful, it would be the first such maneuver performed by a US space robot.
The US space agency is fighting the clock to prevent the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, one of humanity's most valuable eyes in space, from crashing down to Earth. This emergency operation could determine the fate of a scientific jewel that has spent over two decades unlocking the universe's most explosive secrets.
Un estudio publicado en Astronomy & Astrophysics confirma la detección de rayos gamma en SN 2017egm, una supernova superluminosa ubicada en la galaxia NGC 3191. El hallazgo, con participación del ICE-CSIC, valida una señal del telescopio Fermi que permaneció inexplicada durante casi una década y abre una nueva ventana para entender la muerte de las estrellas más masivas.
Alfredo S. Quiroga
