The GRB distance scale controversy may have just ended with a flash . They are so featureless and so poorly resolved , however, that their distances could not be determined. Most importantly, continued scrutiny showed that this optical transient had absorption lines with a redshift of about 0.8 - the distance scale of galaxies and quasars . GRBs could move from the realm of astronomical mystery to useful beacons of the early universe. The faint optical transient source is inside the box.
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