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4h ago

First Early Snapshot of Supernova Shock Breakout Shows Olive-Shaped Blast

Polarized-light measurements taken 26 hours after detection with ESO’s VLT expose a non-spherical geometry that narrows core-collapse theories.

An artist's impression shows a star exploding at the end of its lifecycle, called a supernova, in this handout image released by the European Southern Observatory on November 12, 2025. The star is located about 22 million light-years away from Earth in the galaxy NGC 3621. ESO/L. Calcada/Handout via REUTERS

Overview

  • Researchers observed SN 2024ggi in galaxy NGC 3621 roughly 22 million light-years away during the fleeting breakout phase of its core-collapse supernova.
  • FORS2 spectropolarimetry on the Very Large Telescope enabled reconstruction of the explosion’s geometry from the polarization of unresolved light.
  • The initial blast exhibited a strongly axisymmetric, olive-like shape that later flattened as it encountered surrounding material while keeping the same symmetry axis.
  • The results support asymmetric, neutrino-driven shock scenarios as leading explanations for how such explosions begin, though the data do not definitively settle the mechanism.
  • A rapid target-of-opportunity request led by Yi Yang secured VLT observations 26 hours after discovery and about 29 hours after the shock first breached the star’s surface.