Astronomers announced they've detected the largest X-ray burst ever recorded from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Scientists reassured the public that this won't mean the end of life on Earth. 

NASA's Chandra X-ray Telescope picked up this extreme release of energy from the galaxy's central region. The black hole here possesses a mass of 4.5 million times greater than our Sun.

Like Us on Facebook

This particular energy outburst recorded by the telescope in September 2013 was 400 times greater than the regular energy usually associated with the black hole.

To date, it's still unclear to astronomers what triggered this extreme energy outburst. There are two theories scientists are exploring.

The first theory states that this outburst was apparently caused by magnetic lines entangled in the vicinity of the black hole. These magnetic lines released X-rays quite similar to the Sun's solar flares.

The second theory is even more dramatic. It believes a large asteroid was possibly reeled in by the black hole's colossal forces and exploded just before reaching the event horizon, which is the point of no return. The asteroid became superheated and exploded into oblivion, releasing X-ray emissions.

If an asteroid was torn apart by the black hole, its remnants would still encircle it for a few hours before ultimately getting sucked in, said Fred Baganoff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This X-ray emission lasted a couple of hours and could therefore have possibly come from a much bigger event.

This supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* located in the center of the Milky Way isn't visible to the naked eye due to the thick star dust hiding it from the Earth. Sagittarius A* was discovered by astronomers in February 1974.

TagsNASA's Chandra Telescope Detects Most Powerful X-ray Blast Ever from Largest Black Hole in Milky Way, NASA, chandra telescope, Black Holes, biggest black hole in milky way, NASA chandra telescope x-ray emission blast black hole milky way