New Delhi: A rapid response from the Very Large Telescope in northern Chile operated by the European Southern Observatory has allowed scientists to catch the violent death of a star for the first time. The observations were conducted just as the blast broke through the surface of the star, revealing the shape of the explosion at its earliest stage. The supernova designated as SN 2024ggi was first detected on 10 April by astronomers in China who put in an observing proposal to ESO, which was rapidly approved, allowing the VLT to turn to the supernova on 11 April, 26 hours after the initial detection.

SN2024ggi is located in the galaxy NGC 3621 in the constellation of Hydra, at a distance of 22 million lightyears, which is close by in astronomical terms. The star had run out of nuclear fue

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