Overview
- ESO’s Very Large Telescope began observations about 26 hours after the supernova’s April 10, 2024 detection, catching the moment the shock burst through the star’s surface.
- Using spectropolarimetry with the FORS2 instrument, astronomers reconstructed an elongated, ellipsoidal outflow that departs from spherical symmetry.
- As the ejecta interacted with surrounding material, the shape flattened while retaining a persistent axis of symmetry.
- The event occurred in NGC 3621 about 22 million light-years away and came from a red supergiant roughly 12–15 times the mass of the Sun.
- Findings published in Science Advances constrain core-collapse models and underscore the value of rapid, coordinated follow-up campaigns.