Astronomers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have discovered an unusual new explosion in a star-forming galaxy, located 440 million light-years away from Earth, thanks to the Swift satellite.
NASA astronomers have stated that while this explosion resembles a gamma-ray burst, it differs significantly from typical gamma-ray bursts, which are usually extremely powerful and occur in the farthest reaches of the universe. The newly discovered explosion took place in a region closer to Earth, occurring more than 25 times and lasting 100 times longer than a typical gamma-ray burst. This type of explosion is unprecedented in scientific knowledge and falls within the observational capabilities of NASA’s Swift satellite.
While most cosmic explosions last from a few milliseconds to several tens of seconds, the newly discovered explosion lasted up to 2000 seconds. Scientists from the Italian Institute of Astrophysics predict that this explosion could be the result of a supernova, and if this prediction is confirmed, it would mark the first time that astronomers have observed a cosmic explosion from its beginning to its end.
