Extremely unlikely given the vast distance. Swinburne Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Matthew Bailes thinks the most likely source of the bursts are c

Extremely unlikely given the vast distance. Swinburne Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Matthew Bailes thinks the most likely source of the bursts are cataclysmic explosions in the Universe's most magnetic neutron stars, otherwise known as magnetars. "Magnetars can give off more energy in a millisecond than our Sun does in 300,000 years and are a leading candidate for the bursts," he said.