Scientists have identified a dazzling burst of X-rays so bright that they blinded a camera that had been set up to watch the event.

The X-ray blast is the brightest ever detected from an object outside our own galaxy.

The X-rays had been travelling for over 5 billion years before being detected by the X-ray telescope on board the Swift satellite: a joint NASA, UK, and Italian mission.

The source of the light was a Gamma-Ray Burst: a violent eruption of energy from a massive star collapsing into a black hole.

The flash was so bright that the X-ray camera was temporarily dazzled.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1294923/Cosmic-X-ray-blast-blinds-satellite.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0upcHJeGz