The explosion had the energy of approximately 9000 type Ia supernovae if the emission was isotropically emitted, and the gas jets emitting the initial gamma rays moved at a minimum velocity of approximately 299,792,158 m/s (99.9999% the speed of light), making this blast one of the most extreme recorded.

[1][4][5] The 16.5-second delay for the highest-energy gamma ray observed in this burst is consistent with some theories of quantum gravity, which state that all forms of light may not travel through space at the same speed.

Very-high-energy gamma rays may be slowed down as they propagate through the quantum turbulence of space-time.

The burst lasted for 23 minutes, almost 700 times as long as the two-second average for high energy GRBs.

[2] Follow-up observations were made 32 hours after the blast using the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector (GROND) on the 2.2 metre telescope at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile, allowing astronomers to pinpoint the blast's distance to 12.2 billion light years.