Telescope records massive explosion 12 billion years ago

Description

The University of Western Australia's Zadko Telescope has captured the explosive birth of a blackole 12 billion light years away that took place before the Earth and Sun existed.

The images reveal a blast so powerful it was equivalent to a billion suns shining together for one minute. 

The explosion was recorded at 10.49pm on Thursday 2 February when a NASA satellite orbiting the Earth sent an alert to the Zadko Telescope. 

Within seconds of NASA detecting the explosion, Zadko swung into action, taking very sensitive images of the sky.

UWA Zadko Science Director Associate Professor David Coward said what the images revealed was extraordinary.

"Over several minutes we saw a rapidly brightening star, where there was no star before," Professor Coward said.

"The light from the explosion had travelled for 12 billion years before hitting the telescope."