Access

Letter

Nature 461, 1254-1257 (29 October 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature08459; Received 3 June 2009; Accepted 19 August 2009

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free

A big gamma-ray burst at a redshift of z approximately 8.2

N. R. Tanvir1, D. B. Fox2, A. J. Levan3, E. Berger4, K. Wiersema1, J. P. U. Fynbo5, A. Cucchiara2, T. Krühler6,7, N. Gehrels8, J. S. Bloom9, J. Greiner6, P. A. Evans1, E. Rol10, F. Olivares6, J. Hjorth5, P. Jakobsson11, J. Farihi1, R. Willingale1, R. L. C. Starling1, S. B. Cenko9, D. Perley9, J. R. Maund5, J. Duke1, R. A. M. J. Wijers10, A. J. Adamson12, A. Allan13, M. N. Bremer14, D. N. Burrows2, A. J. Castro-Tirado15, B. Cavanagh12, A. de Ugarte Postigo16, M. A. Dopita17, T. A. Fatkhullin18, A. S. Fruchter19, R. J. Foley4, J. Gorosabel15, J. Kennea2, T. Kerr12, S. Klose20, H. A. Krimm21,22, V. N. Komarova18, S. R. Kulkarni23, A. S. Moskvitin18, C. G. Mundell24, T. Naylor13, K. Page1, B. E. Penprase25, M. Perri26, P. Podsiadlowski27, K. Roth28, R. E. Rutledge29, T. Sakamoto21, P. Schady30, B. P. Schmidt17, A. M. Soderberg4, J. Sollerman5,31, A. W. Stephens28, G. Stratta26, T. N. Ukwatta8,32, D. Watson5, E. Westra4, T. Wold12 & C. Wolf27

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
  2. Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  3. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
  4. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  5. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
  6. Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstras zlige 1, 85740 Garching, Germany
  7. Universe Cluster, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstrasse 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
  8. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  9. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
  10. Astronomical Institute "Anton Pannekoek", University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  11. Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
  12. Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 North A'ohoku Place, University Park, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA
  13. School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
  14. H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
  15. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, PO Box 03004, 18080 Granada, Spain
  16. European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile
  17. Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston Creek, Australian Capital Territory 2611, Australia
  18. Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachai-Cirkassian Republic, 369167, Russia
  19. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
  20. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  21. CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  22. Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA
  23. Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  24. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK
  25. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pomona College, Claremont, California 91711, USA
  26. ASI Science Data Center, Via Galileo Galilei, 00044 Frascati, Italy
  27. Department of Physics, Oxford University, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
  28. Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA
  29. Physics Department, McGill University, 3600 Rue University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T8, Canada
  30. The UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
  31. The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  32. The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA

Correspondence to: N. R. Tanvir1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to N.R.T. (Email: nrt3@star.le.ac.uk).

Top

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to result from the explosions of certain massive stars1, and some are bright enough that they should be observable out to redshifts of z > 20 using current technology2, 3, 4. Hitherto, the highest redshift measured for any object was z = 6.96, for a Lyman-alpha emitting galaxy5. Here we report that GRB 090423 lies at a redshift of z approximately 8.2, implying that massive stars were being produced and dying as GRBs approx630 Myr after the Big Bang. The burst also pinpoints the location of its host galaxy.

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
  2. Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  3. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
  4. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  5. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
  6. Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstras zlige 1, 85740 Garching, Germany
  7. Universe Cluster, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstrasse 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
  8. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  9. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
  10. Astronomical Institute "Anton Pannekoek", University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  11. Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
  12. Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 North A'ohoku Place, University Park, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA
  13. School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
  14. H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
  15. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, PO Box 03004, 18080 Granada, Spain
  16. European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile
  17. Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston Creek, Australian Capital Territory 2611, Australia
  18. Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachai-Cirkassian Republic, 369167, Russia
  19. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
  20. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  21. CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  22. Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA
  23. Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  24. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK
  25. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pomona College, Claremont, California 91711, USA
  26. ASI Science Data Center, Via Galileo Galilei, 00044 Frascati, Italy
  27. Department of Physics, Oxford University, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
  28. Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA
  29. Physics Department, McGill University, 3600 Rue University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T8, Canada
  30. The UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
  31. The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  32. The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA

Correspondence to: N. R. Tanvir1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to N.R.T. (Email: nrt3@star.le.ac.uk).

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Astrophysics Most distant cosmic blast seen

Nature News and Views (29 Oct 2009)

The burst, the burster and its lair

Nature News and Views (07 May 1998)

See all 9 matches for News And Views

RESEARCH

GRB 090423 at a redshift of z ≈ 8.1

Nature Letters to Editor (29 Oct 2009)

A photometric redshift of z = 6.39 ??? 0.12 for GRB 050904

Nature Letters to Editor (09 Mar 2006)

The afterglow of GRB 050709 and the nature of the short-hard γ-ray bursts

Nature Article (06 Oct 2005)

See all 54 matches for Research