Scientists are studying a strange explosion, detected with the Swift satellite, that appeared on February 18, 2006, about 440 million light years away in the constellation Aries.
The blast (
GRB 060218) looks like a gamma-ray burst, however it may be the start of a supernova explosion.
The explosion was about 25 times closer and lasted 100 times longer than a typical gamma-ray burst.
Amateur astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere might be able to see it next week.
Expand 9 degree width map of Aries.
Position(2000): RA = 03:21:39.71 Dec = +16:52:02.6