Access

Letter

Nature 461, 1258-1260 (29 October 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature08445; Received 3 June 2009; Accepted 19 August 2009

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free

GRB 090423 at a redshift of z approximately 8.1

R. Salvaterra1, M. Della Valle2,3,4, S. Campana1, G. Chincarini1,5, S. Covino1, P. D'Avanzo1,5, A. Fernández-Soto6, C. Guidorzi7, F. Mannucci8, R. Margutti1,5, C. C. Thöne1, L. A. Antonelli9, S. D. Barthelmy10, M. De Pasquale11, V. D'Elia9, F. Fiore9, D. Fugazza1, L. K. Hunt8, E. Maiorano12, S. Marinoni13,14, F. E. Marshall10, E. Molinari1,13, J. Nousek15, E. Pian16,17, J. L. Racusin15, L. Stella9, L. Amati12, G. Andreuzzi13, G. Cusumano18, E. E. Fenimore19, P. Ferrero20, P. Giommi21, D. Guetta9, S. T. Holland10,22,23, K. Hurley24, G. L. Israel9, J. Mao1, C. B. Markwardt10,23,25, N. Masetti12, C. Pagani15, E. Palazzi12, D. M. Palmer18, S. Piranomonte9, G. Tagliaferri1 & V. Testa9

  1. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
  2. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
  3. European Southern Observatory, 85748 Garching, Germany
  4. International Centre for Relativistic Astrophysics, Piazzale della Repubblica 2, 65122 Pescara, Italy
  5. Dipartimento di Fisica G. Occhialini, Università di Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
  6. Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad Cantabria, Avenida de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
  7. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
  8. INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
  9. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Rome, Italy
  10. NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  11. Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL), Holmbury Road, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking RH5 6NT, UK
  12. INAF, IASF di Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
  13. INAF, Fundación Galileo Galilei, Rambla José Ana Fernández Pérez 7, 38712 Breña Baja, TF - Spain
  14. Università degli Studi di Bologna, Via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
  15. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  16. INAF, Trieste Astronomical Observatory, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy
  17. Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy
  18. INAF, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo, Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
  19. Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  20. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  21. ASI Science Data Center, ASDC c/o ESRIN, Via G. Galilei, 00044 Frascati, Italy
  22. Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA
  23. Centre for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, Code 668.8, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  24. Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7450, USA
  25. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

Correspondence to: R. Salvaterra1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to R.S. (Email: salvaterra@mib.infn.it).

Top

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by rare types of massive stellar explosion. Their rapidly fading afterglows are often bright enough at optical wavelengths that they are detectable at cosmological distances. Hitherto, the highest known redshift for a GRB was z = 6.7 (ref. 1), for GRB 080913, and for a galaxy was z = 6.96 (ref. 2). Here we report observations of GRB 090423 and the near-infrared spectroscopic measurement of its redshift, z = Unfortunately we are unable to provide accessible alternative text for this. If you require assistance to access this image, or to obtain a text description, please contact npg@nature.com. This burst happened when the Universe was only about 4 per cent of its current age3. Its properties are similar to those of GRBs observed at low/intermediate redshifts, suggesting that the mechanisms and progenitors that gave rise to this burst about 600,000,000 years after the Big Bang are not markedly different from those producing GRBs about 10,000,000,000 years later.

  1. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
  2. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
  3. European Southern Observatory, 85748 Garching, Germany
  4. International Centre for Relativistic Astrophysics, Piazzale della Repubblica 2, 65122 Pescara, Italy
  5. Dipartimento di Fisica G. Occhialini, Università di Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
  6. Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad Cantabria, Avenida de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
  7. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
  8. INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
  9. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Rome, Italy
  10. NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  11. Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL), Holmbury Road, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking RH5 6NT, UK
  12. INAF, IASF di Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
  13. INAF, Fundación Galileo Galilei, Rambla José Ana Fernández Pérez 7, 38712 Breña Baja, TF - Spain
  14. Università degli Studi di Bologna, Via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
  15. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  16. INAF, Trieste Astronomical Observatory, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy
  17. Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy
  18. INAF, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo, Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
  19. Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  20. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  21. ASI Science Data Center, ASDC c/o ESRIN, Via G. Galilei, 00044 Frascati, Italy
  22. Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA
  23. Centre for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, Code 668.8, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  24. Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7450, USA
  25. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

Correspondence to: R. Salvaterra1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to R.S. (Email: salvaterra@mib.infn.it).