They are the Gamma Ray Burst or gamma ray bursts (GRB) and they shine as much as 200,000 Milky Ways together. They were detected for the first time on July 2, 1967 by the American satellites Vela 3 and Vela 4, which were destined to measure the gamma radiation produced by Soviet nuclear tests.
We had to wait more than 30 years, until January 23, 1999, to be able to photograph this cataclysmic phenomenon: an impressive flash of energy at a point in the sky located in the constellation of the Boyero. If it had happened just 2,000 light-years from us, a star twice brighter than the Sun would have appeared in the sky. Fortunately, the explosion had its origin in a very faint galaxy located at a distance of 9,000 million light-years .
GRBs are the worst explosions to occur in the universe since the Big Bang. Its origin is unknown and there is no consensus on who or who can cause such deflagrations. Luckily they happen in galaxies very, very far away.
According to a 2004 study, if a GRB happened just 3,000 light-years away, it could destroy half of the Earth's ozone layer and trigger a mass extinction.
