"Now, in a new study published in the journal Science Advances, an international team of astronomers say they've gotten the earliest and most detailed peek yet at one of these stellar blasts right as one unfolded. In observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, the astronomers were able to document the powerful shockwave caused by the star's collapse as it tore through the star's surface - revealing, for the first time, the actual shape of these explosions."
"The powerful fusion reactions at their core push against the force of their own crushing gravity, suspending them in an uneasy equilibrium that can last for millions of years or more. But when they eventually burn through all of their fuel, the outer layers instantly collapse, smashing into the depleted core and bouncing off it. This creates a vicious shockwave that tears through the star's surface, utterly obliterating it in the process."
Observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope captured the earliest and most detailed view of a supernova as it unfolded. Astronomers documented the powerful shockwave created when the star's outer layers collapsed and rebounded, tearing through the stellar surface and revealing the explosion's geometry for the first time. The geometry provides fundamental information on stellar evolution and on the physical processes that produce the shockwave. Massive stars exhaust their fuel, collapse, and generate a rebound shock that obliterates the star. Supernovas act as cosmic distance markers and enabled discovery that cosmic expansion accelerates.
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