GRB 050904 is one of the most distant events ever observed, as of 2005.
This
gamma ray burst
In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten milli ...
(GRB) occurred in the constellation
Pisces
Pisces may refer to:
* Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish
* Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign
* Pisces (constellation), a constellation
**Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...
.
The bright γ-ray flash, lasting about 200 seconds, was detected on September 4, 2005 by the
Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, previously called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, is a NASA three-telescope space observatory for studying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and monitoring the afterglow in X-ray, and UV/Visible light at the location o ...
.
The GRB has a
redshift
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...
of ''z''=6.295. Such a high redshift means that the burst happened
nearly 13 billion years ago.
Therefore, the GRB exploded when the Universe was an infant (890 million years old according to the most recent estimates), about 6% of its current age.
By comparison, the
most distant galaxy and the most distant
quasar
A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...
ever observed, as of 2005, had a redshift of 6.96 and 6.43, respectively.
Three different groups of researchers, led by Giancarlo Cusumano, Joshua Haislip, and Nobuyuki Kawai respectively, carried out the investigation of the phenomenon and presented their results in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' magazine on March 9, 2006.
See also
*
GRB 080913
GRB 080913 was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) observed on September 13, 2008. The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst satellite made the detection, with follow-up and additional observations from ground-based observatories and instruments, including the Gamma-Ray B ...
*
GRB 090423
GRB 090423 was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission on April 23, 2009 at 07:55:19 UTC whose afterglow was detected in the infrared and enabled astronomers to determine that its redshift is ''z'' = 8.2, ...
External links
Most distant explosion detected, smashes previous record(SWIFT @ Goddard, NASA)
Star Death Beacon at the Edge of the Universe(ESO Press Release)
(NASA)
{{s-end
050904
Pisces (constellation)
20050904
September 2005 events