The supernova, known as SN 2006gy, was believed to be about 150 times as massive as the sun.The explosion could help astronomers better understand how the first generation of stars in the universe died.

"This supernova stands out as the brightest supernova that's ever been observed," said Nathan Smith, astrophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley. (Animation shows the violent death of a star)

For about 70 days it got brighter, peaking with a brightness comparable to 50 billion suns, much brighter than most other supernovas. Supernovas are usually bright for a couple of weeks at most.

Astronomers captured the star's demise using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and ground- based telescopes at the Lick Observatory in California and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The explosion was estimated about 238 million light years away from Earth.

Scientists believe supernova SN 2006gy expelled many of its outer layers in an eruption before its violent collapse.