Astronomers have shared a photo of a star collapsing on itself, called a supernova, in the Pinwheel Galaxy, about 21 million light-years away from Earth. The cosmic event was witnessed through the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki on May 19.

Astronomers share photo of new supernova shining brightly in Pinwheel Galaxy

Researchers for the first time have successfully observed a supernova in its initial phase while trawling through data from Nasa’s Kepler space telescope. The telescope had recorded the event in 2017 as astrophysicists noted the light burst from a supernova as the star exploded.

For first time, Kepler space telescope records initial phase of supernova explosion

Supernovas are highly violent cosmic events that mark the end of a star’s life cycle. Now, astronomers have solved the mystery behind an elusive kind of supernova, which may be able to explain the birth of hypnotising “Crab Nebula”.

Scientists solve mystery behind elusive supernova which birthed Crab Nebula