gamma-ray burst

noun

gam·​ma-ray burst ˈga-mə-ˈrā- 

variants or less commonly gamma ray burst

plural gamma-ray bursts also gamma ray bursts

: a brief, powerful jet of gamma rays detected deep in space that is generated by the collapse and explosion of a celestial object

… researchers … have discovered a gamma-ray burst (GRB) approximately 2.4 billion light-years away in the constellation Sagitta that ranks as the brightest ever observed.

—Russ Nelson

Eventually, though, the neutron star slows down, probably because of magnetic braking. Then it implodes, touching off a gamma ray burst.

—Govert Schilling

—abbreviation GRB

Examples of gamma-ray burst in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is a NASA satellite built to study gamma-ray bursts, the brightest and most powerful explosions in the universe. — Matthew Glasser, ABC News, 30 July 2026

Over the last 22 years, Swift has been searching the sky for gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy astrophysics phenomena in the cosmos. — Brett Tingley, Space.com, 29 July 2026

Because of its success spotting distant gamma-ray bursts, Swift’s mission has been repeatedly extended. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 9 July 2026

Despite its age, astrophysicists still rely on Swift’s multi-wavelength instruments to identify and locate gamma-ray bursts for follow-up observations by other observatories. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 6 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gamma-ray burst

• accursed
• amerced
• cloudburst
• coerced
• conversed
• disbursed
• dispersed
• headfirst
• immersed
• outburst
• rehearsed
• reversed