Star explodes 13 billion years ago; we just see it now

William Atkins
Thursday, 29 October 2009 21:05

Science - Space

GRB 090423 is important to the field of astronomy and cosmology because this gamma-ray burst is now the most distant (and the oldest) object known to exist in the universe.

From the analysis of this explosion, astronomers now think the explosion came from a star that was about 13 billion light-years away from Earth.

And, the explosion occurred about 630 million years after the big bang, which created our universe. The universe is believed to be about 13.73 billion years old, plus or minus 120 million years.

According to the October 28, 2009 National Geographic article Most Distant Object Found; Light Pierced ‘Dark Age’ Fog, the distance this star was located away from Earth “… means that the gamma-ray burst offers an unprecedented peek into a mysterious period known as the cosmic dark ages,” which lasted from just after the big bang to about 380,000 years after the big bang.

Learn more about the this mysterious period near the very beginning of the universe at "The Cosmic 'Dark Ages'."

The observation of this GRB helps astronomers to confirm that stars lived and died in the very early universe, just after this era called the “cosmic dark ages.”

For additional information on the discovery of GRB 090423, please read the October 28, 2009 MSNBC article “Star explosion is most distant space object seen.”