WASHINGTON (AP) - The most powerful explosion ever observed - a deep space
eruption detected in January - released in just seconds a burst of energy
equal to billions of years of light from thousands of suns. Researchers
say in studies to be published Friday the explosion, called a gamma ray
burst, occurred 9 billion light-years from Earth. What caused the
explosion is still a mystery. "It is probably something to do with massive
stars," said S. George Djorgovski, a California Institute of Technology
astronomer. The gamma ray burst was detected by Italian and U.S. science
satellites that sent an alert to a network of ground instruments and
telescopes. Later, more powerful telescopes photographed the explosion's
afterglow. See
