Photo: Supernova Caught Starting to Explode for First Time

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A bright flash of x-rays seen by NASA's Swift satellite in January 2008 (inset) signals the destruction of a star several times more massive than our sun in a galaxy called NGC 2770.

The event marks the first time astronomers have seen the "first light" from a supernova and could help efforts to predict the stellar explosions.

Image courtesy NASA/Princeton University/Gemini Observatories

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