Irish stargazer discovers supernova

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, a giant star exploded in a flash of light so blinding the scene of destruction can still be seen here on Planet Earth.

The trail it left escaped professional astronomers worldwide but not the beady-eyed Dave Grennan, who tracked what is classed as a supernova from his home in Raheny, north Dublin.

It took the amateur astronomer four years to discover his third supernova, but it took somewhat longer for light from the dying star to reach his back garden in Dublin — 170m years to be exact.