Rare and dazzling cosmic explosion spotted by researchers

An artist’s impression of a black hole destroying a nearby star (ESA/C.Carreau)

A rare and dazzling cosmic explosion, which outshines most supernovae in the universe, has been spotted by researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast.

The unusual new blast analysed by researchers is as bright as hundreds of billions of suns, but unusually it lasts less than half as long as typical supernova.