NASA's Fermi space telescope finds a strange supernova with missing gamma rays

A deep purple spiral galaxy is seen head-on, and a small bright dot toward the top of this spiral has been highlighted and circled in yellow.

While examining a nearby supernova with NASA's Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, an effort meant to discover how these stellar explosions ignite charged particles called cosmic rays, scientists have uncovered a bigger mystery.

The team found the supernova, designated SN 2023ixf, to be completely lacking the gamma-ray emissions that should be present when cosmic ray particles are accelerated to near-light-speeds. This is a discovery that could challenge our understanding of supernovas. Scientists have long believed them to be cosmic ray factories, pumping out gamma-rays in immense quantities.