Astronomers have discovered the stellar "missing link" that directly connects a massive star's death to the birth of a black hole or a neutron star.
Two teams of scientists made the discovery using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the New Technology Telescope (NTT) to look at supernova wreckage designated SN 2022jli, which was discovered in May 2022. Lurking in the spiral arm of the relatively close galaxy NGC 157, located 75 million light-years away from Earth, SN 2022jli demonstrated peculiar traits distinguishing it from other supernovas.
