Shown in this artist's conception, the universe's first stars were behemoths that guzzled fuel faster than an SUV, dying quickly and explosively. NASA's Swift satellite may detect the resulting gamma-ray bursts, opening a new window onto the early history of the cosmos. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)
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Gamma-ray bursts shine so brightly that astronomers can spot them across the universe, as shown in this artist's conception. Astrophysicists Volker Bromm (UT Austin) and Avi Loeb (CfA) predict that approximately one-tenth of all bursts captured by Swift will come from stars that died during the first 1 billion years of the universe. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)
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