Strange 'Chirp' May Reveal What Powers The Brightest Supernovae in The Universe

Summary: Scientists just spotted something amazing in space: a superluminous supernova (an exploding star 100 times brighter than normal) that made a strange "chirping" pattern of light. This explosion, named SN 2024afav, marks the birth of a magnetar—a super-dense, highly magnetic star that spins incredibly fast.

Because it spins so fast, it actually twists the fabric of space and time around it! This twisting makes a disk of space dust wobble like a spinning top, which blocks and releases light in a pulsing pattern that gets faster over time (the "chirp"). This is the first time scientists have had to use Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to explain how a supernova works. For lead researcher Joseph Farah, discovering this cosmic mystery was a childhood dream come true!

For more details, see ScienceAlert at sciencealert.com/strange-chirp-may-reveal-what-powers-the-brightest-supernovae-in-the-universe (opens in new tab)