A weird stellar explosion may have caused the brightest supernova yet seen
Stellar debris from the blast collided with nearby material to outshine other supernovas
![supernova illustration](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/041520_mt_supernova_feat.jpg?fit=1028%2C579&ssl=1)
A stellar explosion of record-breaking brightness in a distant galaxy may be the first known example of a rare “pulsational pair-instability” supernova (an artist's interpretation of a generic supernova, shown).
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