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Most distant gamma-ray burst spotted

Nature (2009)Cite this article

Observations suggest the early Universe is ripe for exploration.

Two teams have spied a huge blast from the far reaches of our early Universe. Such γ-ray bursts occur when certain massive stars violently explode. The latest burst happened a mere 630 million years after the Big Bang (that's 13.1 billion years ago) and is the youngest such blast to have been spotted — the previous record-beater happened 825 million years after the Big Bang.

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References

  1. Tanvir, N. R. et al. Nature 461, 1254 - 1257 (2009).

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  2. Salvaterra, R. et al. Nature 461, 1258 - 1260 (2009).

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Authors
  1. Katharine Sanderson
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Video: A flash from the early Universe

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The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission

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Sanderson, K. Most distant gamma-ray burst spotted. Nature (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.1043

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.1043

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