Astronomers spot the largest cosmic explosion ever seen

Such events are very rare and nothing on this scale has been witnessed before, the researchers say

Astronomers have revealed the largest cosmic explosion ever seen (John A Paice/University of Southampton)

Astronomers have uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed.

The explosion is more than 10 times brighter than any known supernova and three times brighter than the brightest tidal disruption event, where a star falls into a supermassive black hole.