When a massive star runs out of fuel, it collapses and explodes as a supernova. An instant before the catastrophe, neutrinos — ghostly particles — burst from the core. They rush through the star and interstellar space like the smell of smoke, heralding a fire that will only ignite minutes or even days later. Light, on the other hand, needs time to break through the dense shells.
Underground detectors catch this 'smoke' — a few particles out of an unimaginable torrent. Upon receiving the signal, the Vera Rubin Observatory turns its colossal eye to the right spot. It will glimpse the glow of a newborn neutron star and the dispersing gas. Calculations show: between 57 and 97 percent of supernovae in our Galaxy will be caught.
The ideas of Fritz Zwicky and Hans Bethe back in the last century linked neutrinos to the death of stars. Today, rapid photometry (brightness measurement) will allow us to trace the entire process: from collapse to the dispersal of the envelope.
as written by the authors arXiv:2601.12094
Supernovae are observed to occur approximately 1-2 times per century in a galaxy like the Milky Way. Based on historical records, however, the last core-collapse galactic supernova observed by humans occurred almost 1,000 years ago. Luckily, we are well positioned to catch the next one with the advent of new neutrino detectors and astronomical observatories. Neutrino observatories can provide unprecedented triggers for a galactic supernova event as they are likely to see a supernova neutrino signal anywhere from minutes to days before the shock breakout causes the supernova to brighten in optical wavelengths. Given its large etendue, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ideally positioned to rapidly localize the optical counterpart based on the neutrino trigger. In this paper we simulate events to study the efficiency with which supernovae are optimally localized by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. We find that the observatory is ideal for initial localization of nearly all observable supernova triggers and has a 57-97% chance of catching any supernova based on theoretical stellar mass density predictions and observations. We provide an analysis of optimal filter selection and exposure times and discuss observational caveats.
Neutrinos from the SN 1987A explosion reached Earth three hours before the light — and that's despite a distance of 168,000 light-years.