A ‘giant flare’ equivalent to half a million years of sunlight zapped Earth for just a fraction of a second. It came from the other side of the Milky Way, 50,000 light years away ― but its impact was visible to the human eye. The powerful energy pulse actually bounced off the Moon and lit up the Earth’s atmosphere, NASA said.
Certain neutron stars called magnetars, and also known as Soft Gamma Ray Repeaters, usually emit flashes of low energy gamma rays, but sometimes when their magnetic fields re-align they can unleash immense bursts.
The burst in question, which occurred on Dec. 27, 2004, travelled through space jolting thousands of orbiting satellites and ionizing the entire upper atmosphere of the Earth, causing it to light up.
The flash was brighter than a full Moon and ‘brighter than anything ever detected from beyond our Solar System,’ according to NASA.
“This might be a once-in-a-lifetime event for astronomers, as well as for the neutron star,” said Dr. David Palmer of Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S.
“We know of only two other giant flares in the past 35 years, and this event was one hundred times more powerful.”
The energy pulse posed no threat to Earth because it was so far away, but was one to happen nearer to us it could be lethal.
Source: The Korea Times [February 16, 2011]