"The BOAT Event: Unprecedented Gamma-Ray Burst Blinds Equipment and Puzzles Astronomers"

University of Arizona astronomers have joined an international effort to study the aftermath of the brightest flash of gamma rays ever observed, dubbed the BOAT (brightest of all time), a gamma-ray burst providing a “cosmic lab” for understanding massive star deaths. Although the jets in the burst were not unusually powerful, they were exceptionally narrow and one was pointed directly at Earth. Astronomers have yet to find a brightening supernova associated with this type of GRB, raising questions about the fundamental understanding of these extremely energetic explosions.