#keck maunakea

For the very first time, astronomers have imaged in real time the dramatic end to a red supergiant’s life, watching the massive star’s rapid self-destruction and final death throes before it collapsed into a Type II supernova.

Scientists now have a detailed glimpse of what may have happened just after the Big Bang about 13.1 billion years ago.

This rare discovery, made using the world-class W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, could change the way scientists think about the evolution of galaxies.