Related papers: Astrophysics: Most distant cosmic blast seen
Understanding the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies represents one of the most exciting frontiers in astronomy. Since the universe was filled with hydrogen atoms at early times, the most promising probe of the epoch of…
The rate of star formation varies between galaxy types and evolves with redshift. Most stars in the universe have formed in episodes of an exceptionally high star-forming activity, commonly called a starburst. We here summarize basic…
Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions known, capable of outshining the rest of gamma-ray sky during their short-lived prompt emission. Their cosmological nature makes them the best tool to explore the final stages in the…
I review the searches for gamma-ray bursts at very high redshift. Although the numbers of GRBs known at z>6 remain few, even small samples can provide information about early star and galaxy formation in the universe which is very hard to…
Recent observations of hydrogen absorption that occurred when the first stars turned on may give insights into the nature of dark matter.
Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful cosmic explosions, signaling the death of massive stars. Among them, GRB 221009A is by far the brightest burst ever observed. Due to its enormous energy ($E_\textrm{iso}\!\approx$10$^{55}$…
It is noted that the duration of a fast radio burst (FRB), about $10^{-3}$ s, is a smaller fraction of the time delay between multiple images of a source gravitationally lensed by a galaxy or galaxy cluster than the human lifetime is to the…
Starbursts are a significant component of the present-day universe, and offer unique laboratories for studying the processes that have regulated the formation and evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. The combination of large…
One of the milestones in the cosmic history is the formation of the first luminous objects and Hydrogen reionization. The standard theory of cosmic structure formation predicts that the first generation of stars were born about a few…
Despite their discovery potential touching a wide range of science, construction of TeV gamma-ray telescopes, Auger, IceCube and a suite of other particle astrophysics experiments has been largely motivated by the hunt for the sources of…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the brightest objects observed. They are also the most relativistic objects known so far. GRBs occur when an ultrarelativisitic ejecta is slowed down by internal shocks within the flow. Relativistic particles…
A number of seemingly {\it exotic} phenomena seen in the highest cosmic-ray experiments are briefly discussed. We argue that they indicate existence of non-statistical fluctuations and strong correlations in the fragmentation region of…
The possibility that the Fermi scale is the only fundamental energy scale of Nature is under serious consideration at present, yet cosmic rays may already have provided direct evidence of new physics at a much higher scale. The recent…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are short and intense flashes at the cosmological distances, which are the most luminous explosions in the Universe. The high luminosities of GRBs make them detectable out to the edge of the visible universe. So,…
Over the last third of the century, a few tens of events, detected by ground-based cosmic ray detectors, have opened a new window in the field of high-energy astrophysics. These events have macroscopic energies, unobserved sources, an…
Initial discovery of CRs dates back to a century ago (1912). Their identification as particles rather than radiation dates to about 20 years later and in 20 more years also the first suggestion that they were associated with SNRs was in…
For a few seconds a gamma-ray burst (GRB) becomes the brightest object in the Universe, over-shining the rest of the Universe combined! Clearly this reflects extreme conditions that are fascinating and worth exploring. The recent discovery…
The last two decades have brought spectacular advances in astrophysics of cosmic rays (CRs) and space- and ground-based astronomy. Launches of missions that employ forefront detector technologies enabled measurements with large effective…
One century ago Viktor Hess carried out several balloon flights that led him to conclude that the penetrating radiation responsible for the discharge of electroscopes was of extraterrestrial origin. One century from the discovery of this…
The origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays remains a mystery. The lack of a high energy cutoff in the cosmic ray spectrum together with an apparently isotropic distribution of arrival directions have strongly constrained most models…