The Brightest Explosions in the Universe

The Earth is hit each day by the bright flash of gamma rays lasting from a fraction of a second to several minutes. These bursts originate in distant galaxies as stars collapse and form black holes. The most distant bursts yet observed are from stellar explosions that occurred over 13 billion years ago, when the universe was only a few hundred million years old. Professor Edward PJ van den Heuvel considers whether these bursts provide us with a glimpse of the first short-lived massive stars that formed during the ‘dark ages’ of the universe. He also discusses the potential dangers for life on Earth if a burst occurred nearby in our galaxy.