Largest explosion in the universe detected
Picture credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Naval Research Lab/Giacintucci, S.; XMM:ESA/XMM; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRTN; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF Astronomers have detected the 'biggest explosion since the big bang' using high power telescopes: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the ESA's XMM-Newton, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India and the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia. This explosion has easily surpassed the previous record held by an eruption from a cluster named MS 0735.6+7421 in which 'a mass of about 300 million Suns was swallowed'. This latest outburst is said to be 'five times bigger than any other known explosion'. Calculations suggest that approximately 5 x 10 54 Joules of energy would be required to cause an explosion of this magnitude. The calculated amount of energy involved is around 9 x 10 33 times more than annual global energy consumption (5.8 x 10 20 Joules). The explosion was