Biggest explosion since the Big Bang detected from supermassive black hole at centre of mystery galaxy

The explosion is being compared to the huge Mount St. Helens eruption that occurred in 1980.

Simona Giacintucci , lead author of a study into the explosion, said: "A key difference is that you could fit 15 Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater this eruption punched into the cluster's hot gas."

The study authors think the eruption was caused by the huge black hole absorbing an excessive amount of gas.

It's well known that black holes draw material towards them but they can also spew it back out in jets or streams.Astronomers have spotted the giant cavity before.

Back in 2008, a team using X-ray telescopes first discovered the giant plasma cluster.

But it wasn't until the area was examined using a radio telescope that they realised it was actually an enormous explosion.

"The radio data fit inside the X-rays like a hand in a glove,' said co-author Dr Maxim Markevitch, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"This is the clincher that tells us an eruption of unprecedented size occurred here."

It reinforces the importance of examining distant space using different wavelengths, experts say.

The discovery was made using four telescopes, two of which are orbiting Earth.

One of them is the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, a space telescope designed to detect X-ray emissions from hot regions of the universe.

This includes galaxy clusters, star explosions and the matter that gathers around black holes.

X-rays are usually absorbed by Earth's atmosphere.

But Chandra orbits above it at an altitude of 86,500 miles, giving it a perfect "space view" of X-rays.

The telescope was launched in 1999 and has passed its projected lifespan by nearly 15 years.