Hubble Optical Image of GRB 110328A
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified the source of one of the most puzzling blasts of high-energy radiation ever observed. It is at the very center of a small, distant galaxy, which appears to be sending a beam of radiation directly toward Earth. The galaxy appears as a bright blob at the center of the Hubble picture. This observation may support the idea that a supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy has gravitationally torn apart and swallowed a bypassing star. As the star's gas falls onto the black hole, radiation is ejected along a narrow beam.
(Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Fruchter (STScI))

X-ray Image of GRB 110328A
The center of this image contains an extraordinary gamma-ray burst (GRB 110328A) observed with Chandra. The burst was first seen on March 28, 2011 by Swift, and within days Hubble and Chandra had been re-pointed at this object. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the unusual blast arose when a star wandered too close to its galaxy's central black hole. This Chandra observation confirms the association of GRB 110328A with the core of a distant galaxy (the red cross marks the position of the galaxy observed in optical light), and shows that it was an exceptionally long-lived and luminous event compared to other GRBs.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/Warwick/A.Levan et al.)