This was
your sky.

Galactic Magnetar Throws Giant Flare

Last December, a dense sheet of gamma rays, only a few times wider than Earth, swept through our Solar System. This event saturated satellites and even reflected off the Moon. The source was a magnetar, SGR 1806-20, located near our Galactic Center, which unleashed its largest flare on record. The extreme brightness and brevity of the initial peak of this explosion suggested a connection between two different types of celestial blasts.