Astronomers documented a new type of supernova explosion that occurred when a massive star approached a black hole within a deadly binary system. The star, with a mass ten times that of the sun, entered a fatal gravitational interaction with a similarly sized black hole before being torn apart and exploding. The explosion, which happened 700 million light-years away, released an enormous amount of energy exceeding the sun’s total output over its lifetime. Scientists relied on an artificial intelligence algorithm to detect the event in its early moments, enabling immediate follow-up with ground and space telescopes. Researchers believe this phenomenon offers new insights into the final stages of giant stars and the influence of accompanying black holes on their ultimate fate.