On December 20, 2006, NASA reported the discovery of a mysterious cosmic explosion 1.6 billion light years away. Scientists consider the explosion, referred to by NASA as a “hybrid gamma-ray burst,” as evidence of the birth of a new type of black hole. NASA first discovered the hybrid burst on June 14, 2006, using its Swift gamma-ray burst detecting satellite. The satellite detects such gamma-ray bursts in the cosmos using over 32,000 CdZnTe gamma-ray detectors made by II-VI Incorporated’s eV PRODUCTS.

Launched in November 2004, the Swift satellite is comprised of three telescopes working in tandem: the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), X-ray Telescope (XRT), and UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT). eV PRODUCTS’ CdZnTe detectors power the BAT in its mission to provide gamma-ray burst (GRB) triggers to the satellite and pinpoint the location of such bursts within the cosmos. When the BAT detects these bursts, it sends sky location and intensity data to ground-based observers for distribution via the Gamma-Ray Burst Coordinates Network (GCN).

The hybrid burst of June 14 (GRB 060614) came from a galaxy in the southern constellation Indus, and lasted for 102 seconds. Since its discovery by the Swift satellite, a number of orbiting and ground-based telescopes have studied the burst, including the Hubble Space Telescope. However, despite the Swift’s accurate positioning of the burst and its study by the very best telescopes on and above the Earth, the explosion’s nature remains a mystery.