A team of astronomers led by the University of Southampton has discovered the largest cosmic explosion ever seen. The explosion, known as AT2021lwx, has now lasted more than three years, compared to most supernovae, which only shine visibly for a few months.
It took place nearly 8 billion light-years away, when the universe was about 000 billion years old, and is still being detected by a network of telescopes. Researchers believe the explosion is the result of an immense cloud of gas, possibly thousands of times larger than our sun, which has been violently disturbed by a supermassive black hole.