1. A gamma-ray burst at a redshift of z approximately 8.2.
- Author
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Tanvir NR, Fox DB, Levan AJ, Berger E, Wiersema K, Fynbo JP, Cucchiara A, Krühler T, Gehrels N, Bloom JS, Greiner J, Evans PA, Rol E, Olivares F, Hjorth J, Jakobsson P, Farihi J, Willingale R, Starling RL, Cenko SB, Perley D, Maund JR, Duke J, Wijers RA, Adamson AJ, Allan A, Bremer MN, Burrows DN, Castro-Tirado AJ, Cavanagh B, de Ugarte Postigo A, Dopita MA, Fatkhullin TA, Fruchter AS, Foley RJ, Gorosabel J, Kennea J, Kerr T, Klose S, Krimm HA, Komarova VN, Kulkarni SR, Moskvitin AS, Mundell CG, Naylor T, Page K, Penprase BE, Perri M, Podsiadlowski P, Roth K, Rutledge RE, Sakamoto T, Schady P, Schmidt BP, Soderberg AM, Sollerman J, Stephens AW, Stratta G, Ukwatta TN, Watson D, Westra E, Wold T, and Wolf C
- Abstract
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to result from the explosions of certain massive stars, and some are bright enough that they should be observable out to redshifts of z > 20 using current technology. Hitherto, the highest redshift measured for any object was z = 6.96, for a Lyman-alpha emitting galaxy. Here we report that GRB 090423 lies at a redshift of z approximately 8.2, implying that massive stars were being produced and dying as GRBs approximately 630 Myr after the Big Bang. The burst also pinpoints the location of its host galaxy.
- Published
- 2009
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