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Science Star explodes 13 billion years ago; we just see it now
Science Star explodes 13 billion years ago; we just see it now | Star explodes 13 billion years ago; we just see it now |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Friday, 30 October 2009 | |
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The gamma-ray burst (GRB) that was observed by the Swift satellite is now called GRB 090423. Generally, a GRB is an extremely energetic explosion of gamma rays—followed by further output of radiation in the x-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such an explosion can last from a few milliseconds to just under one hour (although most only last a few seconds). Astronomers think that gamma-ray bursts occur when massive stars collapse and die, and then convert themselves to black holes the size of stars. GRB 090423 was first observed by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission satellite on April 23, 2009 at 07:55:19 UTC. That is, this star exploded about 13 billion years ago. However, it took approximately 13 billion years for the light (electromagnetic radiation), which was expelled out into space from the explosion, to reach us here on Earth. Light travels at about 186,000 miles per second, or around 300,000 kilometers per second, while in the vacuum of space. GRB 090423 is located in the constellation Leo. While the explosion lasted only ten seconds, GRB 090423 is now very important to the world of astronomy and cosmology. Why it is so important to astronomers and cosmologists is discussed on page two. |
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