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Most Distant Object in Space Spotted

Space.com
posted: 1 DAY 10 HOURS AGO
comments: 1191
filed under: Science News
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Space.com
(April 28) - A stellar explosion has smashed the record for most distant object in the known universe.
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The gamma-ray burst came from about 13 billion light-years away, and represents a relic from when the universe was just 630 million years old.
"It easily surpassed the most distant galaxies and quasars," said Edo Berger, an astrophysicist at Harvard University and a leading member of the team that first demonstrated the burst's origin. "In fact, it showed that we can use these spectacular events to pinpoint the first generation of stars and galaxies."
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"The burst most likely arose from the explosion of a massive star," said Derek Fox, an astrophysicist at Penn State University. "We're seeing the demise of a star — and probably the birth of a black hole — in one of the universe's earliest stellar generations."
Gamma-ray bursts mark the dying explosion of large stars that have run out of fuel. The collapsing star cores form either black holes or neutron stars that create an intense burst of high-energy gamma-rays and form some of the brightest explosions in the early universe.
A light-year is the distance that light can travel in a year, or about 6 trillion miles. So astronomers are seeing this particular burst as it existed 13 billion years ago, because the light took that long to reach Earth observers.
NASA's Swift satellite first detected the ten-second-long gamma-ray burst in the early morning on April 23, and quickly swung about to point its Ultraviolet/Optical and X-Ray telescopes.
The satellite found a fading X-ray afterglow, but no visible light. That alone suggests a very distant object, Berger explained, because the ongoing expansion of the universe eventually stretches all visible light into longer infrared wavelengths.
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Astronomers in the U.S. and UK quickly scrambled to follow up on the stunning discovery. They found that the infrared light of the afterglow had the highest redshift ever measured, meaning that the wavelengths had been very stretched out during their long journey.
The Swift satellite had previously made similar record-breaking discoveries, such as a gamma-ray burst detected in September 2008. That burst came from an exploding star 12.8 billion light-years away.
Swift's new find may indicate an active early universe, even as scientists still try to understand what existed so close to the start of it all.
"We now have the first direct proof that the young universe was teeming with exploding stars and newly-born black holes only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang," Berger said.
Last week's announcement of a giant mystery blob discovered near the dawn of time suggests that even larger objects such as galaxies may have also been forming, when the universe was just 800 million years
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© Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved.
2009-04-28 16:14:34
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TrekkinBob

03:03 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:55 AMApr 30 2009 "I don't want to put words in your mouth "...........are you asking me to take sides here between a guy I knew 20 years ago and one whom I've never even seen ? Lol, that's a tough one. Truth is, I'd give both of them a hug today if I saw them face to face, shake their hand, and sit and drink a beer. At least with Sixeyes. I can't remember if the Rabbi imbibed or not. He really was a very interesting guy and we'd sit and talk for a long time. Tough accent tho. And, no, I am quite sure the U.S. is a staunch ally of Israel, and vice versa, I would hope.

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Libdamage

03:01 AMApr 30 2009

See Bob (and this is to YOU not to your scumbag, POS buddy which is such a lowlife liar, it is not even worth talking TO it.) the lastest lying post, by the scumbag?I never said Evolutionists should burn in Hitlers ovens and as usual the scum can't prove I said something I never said.However, IT posted that it would be "Happy if I met my demise" that I was a "POS that Pol Pot missed".This lying scum garbage about only wishing I had never been born is pure bunk.Now you still think this thing is "intelligent" or "friendly".How about another word, do you look at this thing as being "honest"?Really, do you? Seriously?

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Sixeyess4dinner

03:01 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:55 AMApr 30 2009 "".....Also as an individual you seemed to have some feelings against the rabbi.I get the feeling (again asking not stating) that you would be much friendlier to sixeyes then you would with this Rabbi who's house you went to, sometimes?@@@@ I fear Trek respects my privacy so much that you wouldn't get the 'true story'...I skinned a Rabbi alive and stretched his flesh over a statue of the Virgin Mary as I beat a young girl in the head with a menorah...then I went back to the church basement and sucked the marrow out of rotten rat bones and masturbated while listening to the cries of Peacocks being beheaded for a Feng shui ceremony held by a parolee minister that had family killed by the Japs in the attempt to dominate the world supply of peanut butter...............

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TrekkinBob

02:57 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:44 AMApr 30 2009 "...If I did pull garbage like that, you CERTAINLY would not give ME the free pass you give HIM.............Well I've tried to ! its probablly because I know Sixeyes a whole lot better than i know you. He screws around with people ALOT but it is in a playful manner - tongue-in-cheek fashion, if you like. He does this with me too but since I understand him I don't take offense, I just smile, and try my best to return the favor half as wittily. This is what friends do. If you give folks a chance you would see we "libs" aren't half bad. (or all the way bad either)

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Libdamage

02:55 AMApr 30 2009

I don't want to put words in your mouth so I am asking not SAYING.But since were bring up Israel and you said people tend to see nations as enemies,do you see the country of Israel as an enemy of the US?Also as an individual you seemed to have some feelings against the rabbi.I get the feeling (again asking not stating) that you would be much friendlier to sixeyes then you would with this Rabbi who's house you went to, sometimes?

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Sixeyess4dinner

02:52 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:44 AMApr 30 2009 Ok trekkinBob; I misjudged you .....Now about your friend, what is it that you see that so "intelligent" or friendly" about him?Really..do you expect others to say that someone who lies and when his lies are exposed respinds with "screw you" or " I hope you die"....."""@@@@ Awwe Libdamage, still playing your games as if nobody else can read your previous posts??? YOU are the one that was unmindful..also, I NEVER stated that I wished you would die...I stated that Pol Pot and Stalin should have met your ancestors....implying that I felt the world would be a better place if you were NEVER born..NOT if you "died"...how is that different from you saying that all evolutionists "should burn in Hitler's oven?"...come on Libdamage, if you can do it ..so can I,,,piece of shyte......

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TrekkinBob

02:49 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:29 AMApr 30 2009 So deep down (or mabye not quite so deep) you didn't really like him after all.Shouldn't have had a right, will be more friendly then you apprantly think we SHOULD be with Israel.There are some serious cracks in the "tolerance" and "friendly support" you tried to pretend you had for Jews.................I didn't pretend anything - and still don't. I don't look at nations - I look at individuals. When you look at nations you see an enemy. But when you get to know individuals who live in those nations you get to see people who are just like you and me - working, living, enjoying our families. I spent a good bit of time overseas living in a Muslim country. I got to know many Jews as well as Muslims. Some I became close friends with - others I could not connect with. This is what it comes down to for me - its about people. You might consider this too 'liberal" , I don't know.

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Libdamage

02:44 AMApr 30 2009

Ok trekkinBob; I misjudged you RE the "lib" label.I am truly sorry, on that point.Now about your friend, what is it that you see that so "intelligent" or friendly" about him?Really..do you expect others to say that someone who lies and when his lies are exposed respinds with "screw you" or " I hope you die".is either intelligent OR friendly?I mean come on even you can't think that is true.You certainly would never say that about ME even though I never did that stuff (though I sure YOU probably think, I did).If I did pull garbage like that, you CERTAINLY would not give ME the free pass you give HIM.

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Sixeyess4dinner

02:37 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:32 AMApr 30 2009 Of course Bob YOU will defend your terrorist buddy sixeyes.No matter how vicious he gets against gays you will, defend him and excuse his evil because you two are obviously friends to the end.@@@@@ Again, you seem to think that the post history is invisible...I have not been vicious against gays in any way...I simply don't understand why you think scientists are a threat to your orientation.............

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TrekkinBob

02:35 AMApr 30 2009

Libdamage 02:25 AMApr 30 2009 So why are so friendly with such a hater like sixeyesfordinner .........I only use "Lib" as a shortened version of Libdamage, not as a denegration of you. I enjoy Sixeyes because I have a knack for seeing past the crusty veneer people sometimes have to see who they are. Takes time to develop this and you need to let down a few defenses in order to do so. He's really a decent, intelligent - and educated person - except for his dependence on Mr. Peabody. The only thing I've ever detected that he hates is willful ignorance. I have a problem with this too. Perhaps this is why we 'hang' together.

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