Einstein Probe spots full supernova evolution after nearly 2 decades
For the first time in nearly two decades, astronomers have watched a supernova play out from its explosive beginning to its final fade.
Thanks to the Einstein Probe telescope, they spotted an X-ray flare on March 21, 2026, coming from a Wolf-Rayet star that was around 30 times more massive than the Sun and sitting 500 million light-years away.
Scientists tracked supernova nearly 3 months
Scientists tracked the whole event for nearly three months, something that hadn't been done in nearly two decades.
They got to study a rare shock breakout (a quick flash as the star collapsed), and noticed there was no gamma-ray burst, hinting at a choked jet inside.
This discovery helps us better understand how massive stars die and turn into black holes, and gives us new clues about how these cosmic explosions really work.