GRB 050904

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GRB 050904 is the most distant gamma ray burst (GRB) ever observed. The explosion occurred in the constellation Pisces. The bright γ-ray flash, lasting about 200 seconds, was detected on September 4, 2005 by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission. The GRB has a redshift 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 ever observed have a redshift of 6.96 and 6.43, respectively.

Three different groups of researchers, lead by Giancarlo Cusumano, Joshua Haislip, and Nobu Kawai respectively, carried out the investigation of the phenomenon and presented their results in Nature magazine on March 9, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Most distant explosion detected, smashes previous record (SWIFT @ Goddard, NASA)
• Star Death Beacon at the Edge of the Universe (ESO Press Release)
• Most Distant Explosion Detected, Smashes Previous Record (NASA)
• Swift Newsletter
• Scientists Piece Together the Most Distant Cosmic Explosion