NASA scientists are eagerly awaiting more Hubble Space Telescope images of a unusual galaxy in the constellation Draco that currently has the attention of astronomers around the world. The Burst Alert Telescope on NASA's Swift satellite came to life on March 28th as it detected distant explosions over 3.8 billion light-years away in the constellation Draco. Explosions thousands or possibly millions of times more intense than any in the history of the human journey to the beginning of space and time, now known to astronomers and the world as gamma-ray burst (GRB) 110328A (Sw 1644+57). NASA scientists are currently using the imaging power of Swift, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope to look into the mystery surrounding this series of powerful x-ray blasts that occurred in the centre of a distant galaxy over 3.8 billion years ago.

The explosions were detected as a source of x-rays emanating from the centre of the host galaxy and the original scientific data was collected over a three or four hour period on March 28. Take a look at the first image taken by Swift on March 28th below, which was made by combining images taken by the ultraviolet and x-ray telescopes on Swift. The first light image of the centre of the host galaxy where the explosion was centred occurred was taken with Wide Angle Camera 3 of the Hubble Space Telescope on April 4.

The most interesting development in this for astronomers is the area near the centre of the host galaxy has continued to erupt and subside since Swift detected the first x-rays emanating from the centre of this distant galaxy. This is the first event of this magnitude astronomers have witnessed during the human journey to the beginning of space and time. They all want to get a front row seat to the greatest fireworks display in the history of human space exploration.

Huge x-ray bursts like the ones first detected by Swift usually signalled the death of a massive star, according to previous observations by astronomers during the human journey to the beginning of the universe. But previous x-ray bursts observed following the death of a massive star never lasted for more than a few hours, unlike the ones emanating from the centre of this host galaxy 3.8 billion light-years away, which are continuing to periodically beam x-rays across space and time like a lighthouse.

What do astronomers think caused this lighthouse in space and time to erupt at this time in the human journey to the beginning of space and time? Astronomers propose that a wandering star might have come too close to the super massive black hole believed to be at the centre of the host galaxy and all galaxies. This would certainly cause the star in question to be torn apart by gravitational forces as it wandered closer to the centre of the the host galaxy. The gases from this disrupted star would continue to be drawn into the black hole like water down the drain, which could cause the black hole to erupt in jets of particles of energy along its axis of rotation. In this case the jet of energy erupting from the black hole must be in alignment with Earth, for us to be able to witness this event for the first time in human history. A true one of a kind light show during the human journey to the beginning of space and time.