Meet the BOAT, the brightest gamma-ray burst of all time
The blast could challenge theories about these bursts of high-energy light
An afterglow of X-rays (pictured) following a brilliant burst of gamma rays was spotted by the Swift space telescope about an hour after the burst was detected. The rings are from X-rays scattering off dust in the Milky Way.
Swift/NASA, A. Beardmore/Univ. of Leicester