Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can move the Earth

— Archimedes 200 BC

Darn I missed it!

I was busy in Michigan this week...didn't notice the big glow in the sky LOL...

But here's a several billion year old gamma burst that occured well before the Earth existed!

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/21mar_nakedeye.htm?list880574

 

 

 

Brief

It would've been cool to see - but as the website mentions it only rached 5.8 magnitude and lasted only a few miuntes. So we didn't miss much...

Gamma Ray Burst

Wow
 

It vanished long ago,

but only now her lonely glow

to our sight came through

The icon of the star that died 

It was when to our sight denied

Now what we see is ended

--from "To The Star" by M Eminescu, 1886!