Beware the Quiet Ones: Hubble Unveils 'Explosive' Spiral Galaxy

One of the largest space telescopes in existence managed to snap an image of a spiral galaxy located millions of light years away which became a site of powerful gamma-radiation explosion.

The scientists operating the Hubble Space Telescope released a photo titled Explosive Tendencies which depicts a spiral galaxy ESO 580-49 located approximately 185 million light years from Earth.

According to astronomers, this "tranquil and unassuming" galaxy became a host to an explosive event known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB) – a type of powerful and extremely bright burst of high-energy gamma-ray radiation — the evidence of which was observed in October 2011.

The cause of the event, designated GRB 111005A, remains unclear as no known events that lead to gamma-ray bursts "appear to fit the bill in this case." This development has already led scientists to speculate that the GRB in question was actually a new type of gamma-ray burst that is yet to be fully understood.