Gamma-ray bursts: Harvesting knowledge from the universe's most powerful explosions

The most powerful events in the known universe—gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)—are short-lived outbursts of the highest-energy light. They can erupt with a quintillion (a 10 followed by 18 zeros) times the luminosity of our sun. Now thought to announce the births of new black holes, they were discovered by accident.