Astronomers, using the International Gemini Observatory, managed to capture the optical afterglow of a short gamma-ray burst, which is now known to be the second most distant such event ever recorded. Short gamma-ray bursts are powerful, cataclysmic cosmic phenomena that release an immense amount of energy in just one second.

A prevailing theory among astronomers suggests that these short gamma-ray bursts result from the merger of two neutron stars, which are incredibly dense and massive celestial objects. Observations of this recent event revealed that it occurred at an astonishing distance of around 10 billion light years from Earth.

To detect the fleeting afterglow of such events, astronomers must respond quickly, observing the source within hours of detecting the gamma-ray burst itself. What makes this discovery even more remarkable is the timing: short gamma-ray bursts were discovered during a period in the Universe characterized by a high rate of star formation, a surprising and intriguing phenomenon in the field of 'astrophysics.
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Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard/K. Paterson & W. Fong (Northwestern University), NASA NAOJ/Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab, ESO/M. Kornmesser. Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani and Davide de Martin

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