A mysterious explosion detected by NASA’s Swift satellite occurred on Feb. 18.

The explosion is thought to be a gamma ray burst, and possibly a supernova. It has been reported the explosion may be visible to amateur astronomers this week with the use of large telescopes.

Gamma ray bursts are typically short-lived, localized, and are intense bursts of gamma radiation that originate outside the solar system from an unknown source. This one in particular lasted for 33 minutes, which is 100 times longer and 25 times closer than usual. This is the second closest ever to be detected, located 440 million light years from Earth near the constellation Aries, yet still not close enough to pose a real threat.

The initial explosion was not visible; the visible light follows after with the birth of the supernova. A supernova is the death explosion of a massive star, resulting in a sharp increase in brightness followed by a gradual fading.

Though there may be some speculating or questioning this occurrence, many things in space are yet to be learned and explored. “They are always learning more about new types of objects,” says Jason Dorfman, an environmental safety technician with the Astronomy Department.

Independently, these two occurrences are pretty common but the possibility of a connection between them is what is exciting astronomers. They will have an unprecedented view of a supernova from start to finish.

“It’s rare in terms to see this connection between the two,” says Katey Alatalo, a UC Berkeley grad student who works with SF State's Astronomy Department and specializes in gamma ray bursts.