Sep 12 2005
From The Space Library
Astronomers announced the detection of the most distant explosion ever observed, at approximately 12.6 billion light-years from Earth~ a gamma-ray burst (GRB) occurring after a massive star's collapse and transformation to a black hole. The explosion, which astronomers had named GRB 050904, had occurred nearly 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang, which itself had happened 13.7 billion years ago. The astronomers used ground-based telescopes and NASA's Swift satellite to detect GRB 050904's emitted infrared light. Because the event had occurred so far away, the infrared light had just begun to reach Earth. However, the explosion was not the most distant object or event that astronomers had ever observed. Scientists had detected a quasar and a galaxy located 12.7 billion light-years from Earth. (Guy Gugliotta, “Satellite Detects Massive Explosion,” Washington Post, 13 September 2005; NASA, “Most Distant Explosion Detected, Smashes Previous Record,” news release 05-259, 12 September 2005.)
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