An artist's impression of a large red star releasing a bright, explosive burst of light. (Olena Shmahalo/Callingham et al. via SWNS)

By Stephen Beech

The first confirmed sighting of a giant explosion on a nearby star has been spotted by astronomers.

They observed an explosive burst of material thrown out into space by another star – a huge burst powerful enough to strip away the atmosphere of any planet in its path.

And they say the discovery is an "exciting" breakthrough in the search for alien life.

The burst was a coronal mass ejection (CME) - eruptions often seen coming from the Sun, according to astronomers using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space observatory and the LOFAR telescope.

They explained that, during a CME, massive amounts of material are flung out from ou

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