Scientists Observe First Moments of Dying Star Transforming into Supernova

Imagine a giant star that's lived a long life and is now running out of energy.

When this happens, the star's center collapses, and then it bursts outwards in a huge explosion called a supernova.

Scientists used a powerful telescope in Chile to look at a specific star, SN 2024ggi, right as it was starting to explode.

They couldn't see colors at first, but by studying how the light scattered, they could figure out the star's shape.

At the very beginning, the explosion looked like an olive.

As the star's material spread out, it became flatter, but still kept its main shape.

This event happened in a galaxy far away called NGC 3621.

By watching this, scientists are learning more about how stars like this one, which are much bigger than our sun, live and die.