Oldest known supernova detected by UK astronomers

BRITISH scientists have detected the oldest known supernova using a combination of the world’s most powerful telescopes.

Astronomers say the cosmic blast happened 10.5 billion years ago, 3.3 billion years after the Big Bang.

Named DES16C2NM, it could even shed light on human evolution. It was identified by the Dark Energy Survey – an international collaboration mapping far off galaxies.

A team led by Southampton University confirmed it was a superluminous supernova – the brightest and rarest class, up to 100 times brighter than other types of stellar explosion.

Supernovae are among the most violent events in the universe, marking the death of massive stars and can outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than the sun will in its entire lifetime.

In a galaxy the size of the Milky Way a supernova will normally occur around once every 50 years.

The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, says light from DES16C2NM has taken 10.5 billion years to reach Earth.