I Love Astronomy
On March 19, 2008, an orbiting telescope detected the most powerful explosion ever measured.
For a little while it was powerful enough to see with the unaided eye. Telescopes on the ground measured it's distance at 7.5 billion light years.
That means the explosion took place about three billion years before the birth of the solar system. That made it by far the most-distant object visible to the unaided eye ever recorded.
The explosion was a gamma-ray burst. It probably marked the destruction of a massive star. The star's core may have collapsed to form a black hole, while it's outer layers were blasted to bits.
"Jets" of gamma rays may have been beamed from the poles of the star, with one of the jets aiming at Earth.
The blast faded quickly. But for a while, it offered a glimpse at the distant past -- a time capsule from seven and a half billion years ago.
For a little while it was powerful enough to see with the unaided eye. Telescopes on the ground measured it's distance at 7.5 billion light years.
That means the explosion took place about three billion years before the birth of the solar system. That made it by far the most-distant ob
The explosion was a gamma-ray burst. It probably marked the destruction of a massive star. The star's core may have collapsed to form a black hole, while it's outer la
"Jets" of gamma rays may have been beamed from the poles of the star, with one of the jets aiming at Earth.
The blast faded quickly. But for a while, it offered a glimpse at the distant past -- a time capsule from seven and a half billion years ago.
By:
goodogstay
Age:
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