Astronomers calculate that the explosion had a true luminosity that was 2.5 million times brighter than the most powerful supernova ever seen. Now, that’s bright!

The star that exploded is named GRB 080319B. It was visibly seen on Earth (with the naked eye, without the use of a telescope or binoculars) for only about 30 seconds. It had a peak apparent magnitude of about 5.8. Before it exploded, it was about forty times larger than the Sun.

Swift scientist Neil Gehrets exclaimed, “Even by the standards of gamma-ray bursts, this burst was a whopper. It blows away every gamma ray burst we’ve seen so far."

The universe is estimated to be about 13.7 billion light-years across. And, this gamma-ray burst (GRB) object was about 7.5 billion light-years away from us when it exploded about 7.5 billion years ago. About half way across the universe.

The old record for seeing a body out in space was a mere 2.5 billion light-years away. One light-year (the distance that light travels in a vacuum over the span of one Earth year) is approximately 5.88 trillion miles. So, take 5.88 trillion times 7.5 billion for the actual number of miles! Wow, again!

NASA astronomers saw the afterglow of the explosion, which lasted over one hour, with its Swift Gamma-ray Burst Mission satellite. The astronomers used the satellite's X-ray Telescope and its Optical/Ultraviolet Telescope to observe the event.

The Swift space telescope saw its gamma rays. Most of the explosion occurred with gamma rays. However, it also expelled out lower-energy x-rays, visible light, and radio waves.

Swift science team member Stephen Hollard, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Maryland) said of the record-setting event, "No other known object or type of explosion could be seen by the naked eye at such an immense distance. We don’t know yet if anyone was looking at the afterglow at the time it brightened to peak visibility. But if someone just happened to be looking at the right place at the right time, they saw the most distant object ever seen by Earthlings’ eyes without optical aid."

Did you happen to see it? Read on.