On September 13, US space agency NASA's Swift satellite detected a beautiful gamma-ray burst that came from the edge of our Universe! The burst, named as GRB 080913, took 12.8 billion years to reach Earth and this is the farthest gamma ray explosion ever detected. Take a look at the picture above.
The burst was detected by Swift's Burst Alert Telescope, at 0547 GMT on 13 September, in the constellation Eridanus. Then, astronomers around the World detected its afterglow with the help of telescopes. Analysis of the light spectrum revealed that it came from 12.8 billion light years away. This distance is 70 million light years further than the previous record holder GRB050904. GRB 080913's "lookback time" reveals that the burst occurred less than 825 million years after the universe was born.
The burst was detected by Swift's Burst Alert Telescope, at 0547 GMT on 13 September, in the constellation Eridanus. Then, astronomers around the World detected its afterglow with the help of telescopes. Analysis of the light spectrum revealed that it came from 12.8 billion light years away. This distance is 70 million light years further than the previous record holder GRB050904. GRB 080913's "lookback time" reveals that the burst occurred less than 825 million years after the universe was born.
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