The supermassive black hole exploded 300,000 years at the beginning of mankind

3.5 million years ago, a huge explosion had 'flashed' from the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The radiation from the explosion was felt 200,000 light-years away.

This phenomenon, called 'Seyfert flare' , is a giant explosion that occurred near the center of the Milky Way galaxy , where there is a supermassive black hole. The areas of a bright cone begin to radiate into the universe.

Scientists analyzed data from the Hubble telescope to better understand the explosion. Their findings appear in the Astrophysical Journal.

This flash is felt in the Magellanic Stream about 200,000 light-years away. The Magellanic Stream is a cloud of gas that spans hundreds of light years around the Milky Way and is made up of dwarf galaxies such as the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Large Magellanic Cloud. (A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy of several billion stars - compared to 200-400 billion stars of the Milky Way.)

Scientists believe that the explosion involved a black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A * , which is 4.2 million times more massive than our Sun.

The illustration shows the giant explosion flashing from the center of the Milky Way, affecting the Magellan gas cloud 200,000 light-years away.(Photo: The team at ASTRO 3D).

'The explosion must have looked like a light from a lighthouse , ' Joss Bland-Hawthorn, author of the study, and University of Sydney professor, told CNN. 'Imagine that the universe is dark, then someone turns on the lighthouse for a short time.'

The team concluded the explosion occurred about 3.5 million years ago, around the time when human ancestors were in Africa. The asteroid collision that extinct dinosaurs occurred 63 million years ago.

The explosion lasted about 300,000 years.

'This is a spectacular event that occurred several million years ago in Milky Way history,' said Lisa Kewley, co-author of the study. 'An explosion of energy and radiation emanates from the center of the Milky Way and then spreads around. This shows that the Milky Way center is more volatile than we think. Fortunately we are not there. '

An illustration of the Milky Way in the sky of the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.(Photo: Reuters)

The study helps scientists better understand similar explosions in the universe, and how they relate to the motion of black holes.

'We always thought the Milky Way was a non-volatile galaxy, and the center was not too bright. But the new finding opens up the possibility of a total rethinking of the Milky Way's movement and nature , ' Magda Guglielmo, co-author of the study, also from the University of Sydney, told CNN.

'We are witnessing the awakening of the sleeping beauty.'