Mega-star explosion most distant object ever seen

[Soylent Brice]

?
AFP/HO – GRB 090423 is the small, very red source in the centre of this image.

Wed Oct 28, 7:32 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – It took 13 billion years to reach Earth, but astronomers have seen the light of an exploding mega-star that is the most distant object ever detected, two studies published Thursday reported.

The stunning gamma-ray burst (GRB) was observed by two teams of researchers in April, and opens a window onto a poorly known period when the Universe was in its infancy.

GRBs are the most violent explosions known to exist, and can be 10 million times more luminous than the brightest of galaxies.

They accompany the catastrophic death of a massive star, and are probably triggered by the collapse of the star's centre into a black hole.

read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091028/sc_afp/astronomyspacebigbang_20091028233220

[derby378]

1. Way freakin' cool, ain't it?

:hi:

[Soylent Brice]

2. extremely cool.

i love reading about this stuff.

[SIMPLYB1980]

3. K&R

Cool.

[Fumesucker]

4. Oh please, the Earth and the Universe are only 6,000 years old..

This was put in the sky by God as a test of our faith..

And yes, it's :sarcasm:

Interesting that this was first detected by a gamma ray burst location satellite..

[Soylent Brice]

5. a LOT of things are being detected by Swift

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html

Swift Features



Swift Makes Best-ever Ultraviolet Portrait of Andromeda Galaxy
In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet.



European Satellites Probe a New Magnetar
NASA's Swift satellite detected a rare interstellar object known as a soft gamma repeater, or SGR. The object is only the fifth confirmed SGR.



New Gamma-Ray Burst Smashes Cosmic Distance Record
NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old.



Swift’s Comet Tally Highlighted in Observatory Webcast
A montage of comet images made using NASA’s Swift spacecraft illustrates just how different three comets can be.

[rurallib]

6. When I heard this last night it hit me that our view of the universe

is actually what it was multi-billion years ago. So when we talk about an ever expanding universe and a disc shaped universe we are basing that on data that is way old.
Am I wrong? We as humans will never really get a grasp on what the universe looks like today.

[Soylent Brice]

9. correct.

the majority of what we see in the sky at night doesn't even exist anymore because of the amount of time it takes for light to travel that sort of distance.

but that doesn't mean it's all completely gone. some stars have recycled themselves into other stars, and so on. there's really no telling what all is out out there, but by peering into the past we can develop a timetable of how things developed, and predict where were headed, so to speak.

[mikelgb]

12. yeah I had a crazy thought once

what if you looked up and all of a sudden the stars started flashing and then disappearing

[AngryAmish]

14. To contemplate it only induces madness

Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth care not for us.

[la_chupa]

7. shocking since the whole universe is only 6,000 years old and all

Do you ever see something like this and wonder if maybe just maybe somewhere out there in the vastness of space there is another planet inhabited by for lack of a better word, people who are also looking at the same phenomena?

me either

cause that would be nutty

:hide:

[Bill McBlueState]

8. sometimes I wonder whether all the references to young-earth creationism

that accompany any thread about cosmology are just giving that movement free advertising. Do people have to keep calling attention to them?

[Soylent Brice]

10. i personally don't mind. the whole creationist thing is a fucking joke.

any opportunity to satirize it is fine by me.

of course, a good science conversation would be nice too. lol

[Lancer]

11. Just beautiful.

In my 49 years, I have only seen the pure, unadulterated night sky -- free from light pollution -- three times. (1) Hatteras Island, NC in 1973, (2) Over the Tye River in central VA south of Charlottesville in 1984, and (3) over Omaha Beach in 1981. It's beyond imagining how beautiful it is to see the Milky Way spilling over and around you; shooting stars, so many things you just can't see from most any place on the East Coast, which is where I've lived all my life.

P.S. Even though it was not the usual time of the year for them, it was in May in Normandy when I saw the Northern Lights for the first and only time. Shimmering, undulating yellow-green curtains that actually seemed to have a silvery sound emanating from them. Magical.

I envy people who live in remote areas of the Western US and other places where man-made lights don't make the night sky invisible except for the moon, Venus and the brightest of stars...

[TransitJohn]

13. Bomb it.

It's obviously a manifestation of female energy and ought to be destroyed. :sarcasm: