"Scientists Witness Epic Supernova Birth Potential Black Hole in Real Time"

Astronomers caught a rare supernova explosion in almost real-time last year in the Pinwheel Galaxy, thanks to the swift reporting of Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki. The event, dubbed SN 2023ixf, allowed scientists to closely follow the supernova's emergence and gather valuable data on the star's conditions before and after the explosion. Observations from Hubble, NASA's Swift spacecraft, and the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i provided insights into the evolution of the explosion, suggesting that it likely formed a black hole. Follow-up observations are expected to further enhance understanding of supernovae and their interactions with their environment.