Thus, a burst of gamma rays indicates that something exceptionally violent has occurred. Astrophysicists now believe that each burst releases as much energy in 10 seconds as our sun will release in 10 billion years. T here's nothing magic about number 2000, but it is a nice reminder that these are common events. Burst 2000, which made its brief appearance and faded. It took nearly two minutes to reach its peak and 15 minutes to trail off to background levels.
Most bursts peak within a few seconds and trail off in tens of seconds.
The brightness here was about the average of most bursts, though. A cluster of four bursts that appeared to come from the same region of the sky, suggesting some sort of connection, was recorded Oct. 26 and 27, 1996. The burst pattern has been a non-pattern, so even getting two in the same region and time would be a rare coincidence. Four are a real puzzler. Many bursts, like the latest, are rated at just a few Crabs.