The brightest gamma ray burst ever observed defies long-standing models – Astronomy Now astronomynow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from astronomynow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The phenomenon was the result of a gamma-ray burst; the strongest and brightest explosion in the universe. The burst occurred 1.9 billion years ago, and it was likely the result of a colossal star collapsing into a black hole.
The blast, which astronomers said was the brightest of all time since the beginning of human civilisation, occurred two billion light years from Earth in October and produced a pulse of intense radiation that swept through the solar system.