Supernova is a mega blast from the past
BRITISH scientists captured one of the biggest explosions in the universe in a 10,000-to-one chance.
The gamma ray burst, whichstar dies, happens exploding when as a a supernova, gave off as much energy in seconds as our sun has in its 10 billion-year life.
It is so far away the 13.8-billionyear-old universe was just 3.8 billion years old at the time it exploded.
Experts at Bath University detected its light as the star died. Physics Prof Carole Mundell said: “We got a flash of light lasting a second that was a warning.
“Then there was a delay of about 100 seconds, giving us enough time to position the telescopes. That is quite unusual.”