Observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope showed the explosive death of a star just as the blast was breaking through its surface
Scientists have revealed for the first time a jaw-dropping early view of an exploding supernova.
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.
It offers new insights into the true shape of supernovae and shows that they display olive-shaped characteristics rather than spherical.
The team said: “The astronomers found that the initial blast of material was shaped like an olive.”
ESO said: “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.”
The supernova explosion SN 2024ggi was first detected in April last year. Yi Yang, an assistant professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, had just landed in San Francisco after a long-haul flight.
He knew he had to act quickly, so 12 hours later he had sent an observing proposal to ESO. After a rapid approval process, the ESO pointed its telescope in Chile at the supernova on April 10, just 26 hours after the initial detection.
SN 2024ggi is located in the galaxy NGC 3621 in the direction of the constellation Hydra, ‘only’ 22 million light years away – close by in astronomical terms. With a large telescope and the right instrument, the international team knew they had a rare opportunity to unravel the shape of the explosion shortly after it happened.
The supernova’s progenitor was a red supergiant star, with a mass 12 to 15 times that of the Sun and a radius 500 times larger, making it a classical example of a massive-star explosion.
Dietrich Baade, ESO astronomer and co-author of the study published in Science Advances, said: “The first VLT observations captured the phase during which matter accelerated by the explosion near the centre of the star shot through the star’s surface. For a few hours, the geometry of the star and its explosion could be, and were, observed together.”
Prof Yang said: “The geometry of a supernova explosion provides fundamental information on stellar evolution and the physical processes leading to these cosmic fireworks.”
ESO says the exact mechanisms behind supernova explosions of massive stars – those with more than eight times the mass of the Sun – are still debated and are among the fundamental questions scientists want to address. The observatory said: “With this knowledge astronomers can already rule out some of the current supernova models and add new information to improve other ones, providing insights into the powerful deaths of massive stars.”
Ferdinando Patat, an ESO astronomer and study co-author, said: “This discovery not only reshapes our understanding of stellar explosions, but also demonstrates what can be achieved when science transcends borders. It’s a powerful reminder that curiosity, collaboration, and swift action can unlock profound insights into the physics shaping our universe.”
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