Comet Enthusiast

An amateur stargazer officially became the first person in Ireland ever to discover a supernova. The explosion that caused the burst of light occurred an estimated 290 million years ago. The odds of making the discovery are almost as difficult to comprehend as the distance the celestial spectacle was far beyond the Milky Way -a thousand, million, million, million miles away in the UGC112 galaxy.

The discovery was confirmed officially by International astronomers earlier this week. Supernovae are stellar explosions that are can outshine entire galaxies for a short time, and they are the major source of heavy elements in the Universe. It’s estimated that a supernova will occur in each of the 900,000 known galaxies no more than once every 100 years.