http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25041335
I have a tough time getting my head round things like this.
A distant star exploded which was 30-40 times bigger than our sun. The light from the explosion took 4 billion years to reach us and the explosion would have only lasted a minute..
During the explosion the star would collapse in on itself creating a black hole and producing a gamma ray burst.
Sound like science fiction to me.