Astronomical Breakthrough: Mapping Supernova Shapes

On April 10, 2024, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, detected the first light from the supernova explosion designated SN 2024ggi, which originated from a massive star with a mass approximately 12 to 15 times that of our Sun.

This event took place in the galaxy NGC 3621, located about 22 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Just 26 hours after the initial detection, astronomers quickly directed the Very Large Telescope in Chile to observe this rare phenomenon, capturing a crucial early phase of stellar death.

The resulting images, shared on November 12, 2025, include an artist's impression based on data from the VLT, showcasing the explosion's shape and dynamics. Traditionally, supernovae were assumed to explode symmetrically in a spherical manner; however, the observations revealed that the initial shock wave was elongated along one axis, resembling the shape of an olive.

This significant finding, made possible through spectropolarimetry, indicates that the explosion was not isotropic, meaning that the emitted light was not distributed equally in all directions. The FORS2 instrument at the VLT is currently the only facility in the Southern Hemisphere capable of such measurements, enabling scientists to observe the supernova's breakout shape for the very first time.

As the supernova expanded, data indicated that the hydrogen-rich outer layers of the star aligned with the same directional axis of the initial shock, suggesting a stable orientation from the onset of the explosion.

This groundbreaking study has implications for our understanding of supernova models, ruling out some existing theories while reinforcing others. The research results were published in the journal Science Advances, providing deeper insights into the catastrophic processes behind the deaths of massive stars.

This unprecedented mapping of supernova shapes could reshape our understanding of stellar life cycles and the overall dynamics of the universe, as stated in the report by Live Science.