Astronomers just spotted what they think is the fastest-growing black hole ever discovered in the Universe, and it's got a voracious appetite, sucking in the equivalent of the mass of our Sun every two days.

To find this "monster" of a black hole, the researchers had to peer some 12 billion light-years across space – which also means they're seeing the object as it would have looked 12 billion years ago, not too long after the Big Bang.

The black hole is only visible because of its incredible brightness: If it was inside the Milky Way, it would light up more brightly than a full Moon to people on Earth, the astronomers say, making all the other stars in the night sky look dim by comparison.