Like a cosmic Grim Reaper, a blast of ultraviolet light signals the violent death of the universe's most massive stars. Now astronomers have viewed this heavenly harbinger for the first time.
"Astronomers have been dreaming about seeing the first light from the violent death of a star for over 30 years," said lead researcher Kevin Schawinksi of the University of Oxford. "Our observations open up an entirely new avenue for studying the final stages in the lives of massive stars and the physics of supernovae."
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