Going supernova

摘要

Massive stars die violently. Born with masses greater than about ten times that of the Sun, they end their lives as supernovae or powerful γray bursts. But how do they look just before they die? On page 65 of this issue, Ofek et al. report observations of an outburst from a massive star just 40 days before it exploded as a supernova. Rare observations such as these offer a means to probe the brief terminal phases of massive stars that are not otherwise easily accessible.