Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2026

24 ASTRO PUBLISHING JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 W hen the supernova explo- sion SN 2024ggi was first detected on the night of 10 April 2024, Yi Yang, an assistant professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and the lead author of the new study, had just landed in San Francisco after a long-haul flight. He knew he had to act quickly. Twelve hours later, he had sent an observing proposal to ESO, which, after a very quick approval process, pointed its VLT telescope in Chile at the supernova on 11 April, just 26 hours after the initial detec- The initial shape of a supernova explosion by ESO Bárbara Ferreira T his artist’s impression shows a star going supernova. About 22 million light- years away the supernova, SN 2024ggi, exploded in the galaxy NGC 3621. Using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers managed to capture the very early stage of the supernova when the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. Observing the breakout so early on — 26 hours after the supernova was first detected — revealed its true shape. The supernova broke out in an olive-like form. This marks the first ever observation of the shape of a supernova explo- sion at this very early stage. [ESO/L. Calçada]