Cosmic explosion that could destroy us captured

A huge gamma ray explosion has happened in a far off galaxy about 3.7 billion light-years away from Earth that has been firmly branded ‘the monster’ by scientists in Nasa.

Prominent UK newspaper The Independent has quoted Nasa astrophysics chief Paul Hertz, who said at a news conference on Thursday, that ‘the burst was a once-in-a-century cosmic event.’ 

A gamma ray burst happens when a massive star dies, collapses into a black hole, explodes in what’s called a supernova and ejects energetic radiation. A planet caught in one of these bursts would lose its atmosphere instantly and be left a burnt cinder, scientists say. 

The number of orbiting Nasa telescoping have been capturing gamma ray bursts on a regular basis, but clearly, the scientists are too impressed with the latest mega burst. Four studies published in the journal Science have confirmed the scale and effect of the gamma ray burst that has taken the scientific fraternity by storm.  

Spotted on 27 April, the explosion flooded Nasa instruments with five times the energy of its nearest competitor, a 1999 blast, said University of Alabama at Huntsville astrophysicist Rob Preece, who authored one of the studies. In general, gamma ray bursts are ‘the most titanic explosions in the universe,’ Preece said, and this one was so big that some of the telescope instruments hit their peak. It was far stronger and lasted longer than any previous ones.