Fact Sheet
Bright Blast
A titanic explosion known as GRB 080319B became the most-distant object visible from Earth's surface ever recorded when it flared up on March 21. The explosion formed a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic events in the universe. Its "afterglow" was barely bright enough to see from Earth's surface without any optical aid. Observations by telescopes in space and on the ground, including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, measured its distance at 7.5 billion light-years. By comparison, the Andromeda galaxy, which is the most distant object that is fairly easy to see with the unaided eye, is only 2.5 million light-years away. These images were recorded by the orbiting Swift X-ray satellite. The image at left shows the X-rays from the explosion, while the image at right shows the outburst in a combination of visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. [NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler et al.]
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