Although GRB 000131, like other gamma - ray bursts, appears to have
taken place in a remote «early galaxy» (or «sub-galactic
clumps» of stars) that is
smaller than today's luminous galaxies, astronomers found it difficult to detect that extremely dim, sub-galactic
clump of stars even with the Hubble Space Telescope, as the observed fading of the afterglow indicated that the maximum brightness of the gamma - ray emission was explosion was at least 10,000 times brighter than its host galaxy.