M. Pursiainen

A star similar to our Sun but several times heavier sheds its outer layers before dying. The gas expands outward, forming something like onion rings around the star. When the star finally explodes as a supernova, the light of the explosion passes through these rings and illuminates them, like a flashlight shining through layers of fog.

On the night of August 18, 2025, the SVOM space telescope detected a short gamma-ray burst — a powerful flash of energy lasting less than two seconds. Such bursts are usually linked to mergers of neutron stars, the ultra-dense remnants of dead stars.