Space telescopes observe unusual cosmic blast

WASHINGTON: Astronomers are puzzling over a great cosmic explosion in a distant galaxy.

The gamma-ray burst was observed on March 28 by NASA's Swift satellite. Flaring of such an event usually lasts a few hours.

Scientists say this explosion is unusual because the effects are long lasting. More than a week later, they continue to see high-energy radiation doping and fading at the source.

The burst was probably caused by a star that has been torn, after drifting too close to a supermassive black hole.

Since the explosion, the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory focused on the action. Hubble observed whether the nucleus of the galaxy luminosity changes in the coming days.

The galaxy is 3.8 billion light years from Earth. A light year is about 6 trillion miles.