Cosmic explosion that blinded space instruments ‘may be the brightest ever seen’

An artist’s impression of a beam of intense radiation produced by a cosmic explosion thought to be the brightest of all time (Soheb Mandhai)

A cosmic explosion two billion light years from Earth that blinded space instruments may be the brightest ever seen, astronomers have said.

The blast produced a pulse of intense radiation that swept through the solar system in October last year, triggering detectors on multiple spacecraft.