Found: the Blast at the Beginning of the Universe

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Astronomers may have detected the most distant and ancient object ever seen, a massive explosion that lit up the early universe soon after its birth. When the blast, known as a gamma ray burst (GRB), detonated, the universe was less than 4 per cent of its present age and 10 per cent of its present size.

Light from the event has taken 13.14 billion light years to reach the Earth. It began its journey only about 600 million years after the Big Bang that created the cosmos. The source of the burst, designated GRB 090429B, was an exploding star which for a brief time shone a million million times more brightly than the Sun. Its fading "afterglow" was detected by the American space agency's Swift satellite in April 2009.

Two years of analysis have now shown the object to be a candidate record-breaker. British astronomer Dr Andrew Levan, from the University of Warwick, who was among the first to view the explosion, said: "The race to find distant objects stems from the desire to find and study the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe, in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

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Caught in the act: the Swift satellite observes a supernova explosion
Source: www.independent.co.uk...

Man, I am not going to lie to you. I just don't how they do this figuring. I wish I would have studied this in College-at least as a minor. Maybe it isn't too late.

I do what I can but I love to bring this stuff here and see/hear the ATS pros/in-the-knows break it down and make it understandable (usually)

So, we get closer and closer to the very beginning. SIX HUNDRED million years after the Big Bang this thing was...is... Just mind blowing.

Man, if we are the only ones in this big old universe... what a shame. But, we got our work cut out for us-so let's get to it.

reply to post by anon72
Already posted here though from a different source, and slightly different figures cited (the other article says 520 million Years after the Big Bang), but it's the same object:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Yes, I'm with you. I don't know how they do the figuring part.

I, for one, do not believe there was a Big Bang. I usually get stoned for this, but I've always believed the Universe was infinite. I mean, everything in the Universe is infinite/fractal, that would include time as well. I always thought the Big Bang theory explained nothing at all: what caused it? Emptiness can't produce an explosion. The first particles that caused the Big Bang HAD to be created, somehow. If there ever was a Big Bang, there HAS to be something prior to this event that created the perfect explosive conditions.

Anyways, I always look forward to articles like that. Thanks for this!