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• May 22, 2008 11:48 am US/Central
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  Scientist Witnesses Supernova

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Scientist Witnesses Supernova

WASHINGTON (AP) ― "A star exploded right before my eyes" -- the words of one astrophysicist who witnessed the start of one of the universe's most fiery events: the end of a star's life as it exploded into a supernova.

She says its like "winning the astronomy lottery."

In January, astronomers used a NASA X-ray satellite to spy on a star already well into its death throes, when another star in the same galaxy started to explode.

The outburst was 100 billion times brighter than Earth's sun.

The scientists were able to get several ground-based telescopes to join in the early viewing. The first results are published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)