NASA Announces Detection of Most Distant Explosion

NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT, Monday, September 12 to announce the detection of the most distant explosion yet, a gamma-ray burst from the edge of the visible universe.

Scientists detected the burst using NASA’s Swift satellite. Several ground-based telescopes, including the international Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research (SOAR) in Chile, measured the astounding distance as the embers faded.

Panelists:

– Kim Weaver, Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington

– Richard Reichart, assistant professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

– Neil Gehrels, Swift principal investigator, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

– Donald Lamb, professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago

Media can participate by calling Dolores Beasley or Erica Hupp at 202/358-1753/1237. The teleconference will be available live on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/2005_distant_grb.html

For more information about the Swift mission on the Web, visit:

http://swift.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home