Swift observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed the explosive death of a star just as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. For the first time, astronomers unveiled the shape of the explosion at its earliest, fleeting stage. This brief initial phase wouldn’t have been observable a day later and helps address a whole set of questions about how massive stars go supernova – Read the full story on:
This artist’s impression shows a star going supernova. About 22 million light-years away the supernova, SN 2024ggi, exploded in the galaxy NGC 3621. Using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers managed to capture the very early stage of the supernova when the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. Observing the breakout so early on — 26 hours after the supernova was first detected — revealed its true shape. The supernova broke out in an olive-like form. This marks the first ever observation of the shape of a supernova explosion at this very early stage – Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
