BULLETIN
Gamma-ray burst afterglow seen across the Universe
It’s the most distant optical indication of a short burst ever detected
The afterglow of one of the most intense explosions in the Universe – a short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) – has been spotted further away than ever before. A recent article announced the explosion was 10 billion lightyears away, meaning the blast occurred when the Universe was just 3.8 billion years old.
SGRBs are intense bursts of gamma radiation which flash across the Universe, believed to be produced by two neutron stars merging. They earn their ‘short’ moniker, however, as the optical component lasts only a few hours, leaving astronomers little time to catch this part of the outbursts before they fade away from view.
When astronomers received word
