(CNN)It lasted only 20 minutes and took place 1.2 billion light years away, but NASA managed to catch it on camera: a star exploding. The brilliant flash of an exploding star's shockwave -- or "shock breakout" -- has been captured for the first time in visible light by the Kepler space telescope. An international team of researchers analyzed some 50 trillion stars photographed by Kepler over a three-year period, searching for supernovae. A supernova occurs at the end of a massive star's life, as a colossal, catastrophic explosion erupts, causing the star to burn brighter than some galaxies for around two weeks before fading to black. ...
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