Astronomers have recorded the brightest and perhaps the largest supernova in the history of the universe.
About four billion light years away, in June of 2015, astronomers captured the explosion of a star. Earlier this month, researchers published their discovery of the largest supernova, named ASAS-SN-15lh.
In simple terms, supernovas are recognized to be the largest explosions that take place in space. Already some of the brightest events, rare and intense explosions such as this one are dubbed superluminous supernovae (or SLSNe). Astronomers study supernovas because they offer great insight as to what is happening across the universe.
Oldest recorded supernova, NASA.gov
According to Sciencemag.org, the event was recorded by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, pronounced “assassin”). Led by Ohio State University, the ASAS-SN project includes several 14-cm telescopes in Chile and Hawaii that scan the sky every two-three days.
Sources described ASAS-SN-15lh as “50 times brighter than our milky way” and “570 billion times brighter than our sun.” It all seems very flashy and exaggerated across several news sources, so why is it so significant? Scientists have many theories. Some include the belief that the star may have collapsed into a highly magnetized neutron star called a magnetar that fueled the unusually bright supernovae.
Many still remain puzzled and hope the use of the Hubble Space Telescope may help answer questions later this year, Ohio State said.
