Astronomers have confirmed the existence of the most distant and oldest known star in the universe, a massive supernova that exploded 10.5 billion years ago.

First detected in August 2016, the hypernova, or superluminous supernova (SLSN), was again confirmed this month by the Dark Energy Survey, a 400-member group of astronomers mapping several hundred million galaxies for a study of the "dark mysterious force believed to be causing the accelerated expansion of the Universe."

As noted in the study published in the Astrophysical Journal earlier this month, the light from the exploding star named DES16Cnm took 10.5 billion years to reach Earth. 

“It’s thrilling to be part of the survey that has discovered the oldest known supernova," said lead author Mathew Smith of the University of Southampton in a press release. "DES16C2nm is extremely distant, extremely bright, and extremely rare – not the sort of thing you stumble across every day as an astronomer."

The SLSN was spotted by an "extremely sensitive" 570-megapixel digital camera built and used by the team of scientists from 25 different institutions. The camera is mounted on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, located in the Chilean Andes.

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Smith noted that the ultraviolet light reaching earth from the SLSN offers insights on the amount of metal produced in the explosion as well as the temperature of the explosion itself, both of which "are key to understanding what causes and drives these cosmic explosions.”

A supernova is an exploding star at the end of its life cycle. DES16C2nm is classified as an SLSN, the brightest and rarest class of supernovae first discovered 10 years ago, according to the press release.

“Such supernovae were not thought of when we started DES over a decade ago. Such discoveries show the importance of empirical science; sometimes you just have to go out and look up to find something amazing,” Bill Nichol, study co-author, professor of astrophysics and director of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said in the release.