Gamma Ray Burst GRB990123
A NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope view of the rapidly fading visible-light fireball from the most powerful cosmic explosion recorded to date. For a brief moment the light from the blast was equal to the radiance of 100 million billion stars. The initial explosion began as an intense burst of gamma-rays which happened on Jan. 23, 1999.
The blast had already faded to one four-millionth of its original brightness when Hubble made observations on February 8 and 9. Space Telescope captured the fading fireball embedded in a galaxy located 2/3 of the way to the horizon of the observable universe.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo9909c |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 11 March 1999, 06:00 |
| Size: | 508 x 509 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Gamma Ray Burst, GRB 990123 |
| Type: | • Early Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Gamma Ray Burst • Cosmology Images/Videos • Miscellaneous Images/Videos |
| Distance: | z=1.6 (redshift) |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical V |
585 nm | Hubble Space Telescope STIS |
