Astronomy: Magnetars may be the engine of super bright supernovae (Nature)
12 March 2026
Observations of an extra bright stellar explosion, known as a superluminous supernova, indicate that the event may be powered by a highly magnetized star. The research, published in Nature, offers insight into the mechanism behind the brightness of superluminous supernovae.
Superluminous supernovae are at least ten times brighter than standard supernovae. Researchers have suspected that magnetars (a magnetized type of neutron star formed from a supernova) could power these explosions, but changes in brightness in the records of the light emitted from these supernovae call this explanation into question.
Joseph Farah and colleagues analysed light emitted from the superluminous supernova 2024afav, located 327 megaparsecs — over one billion light years — from Earth. Following the initial explosion of the supernova, they observed that the light emitted from the event increased and decreased, with the events happening quicker as time progressed. Through computer models, the authors determined that this behaviour could be observed if a magnetar was at the centre of the supernova surrounded by a disk of matter falling toward the star. Further, they suggest that this disk is tilted, creating the rising and falling brightness as observed from Earth.
The authors note that this model could explain the behaviour of other observed superluminous supernovae with similar light curves. Future observations, including those by the Legacy Survey of Space and Time for example, could help refine this model by increasing the sample size of superluminous supernovae and providing researchers with longer brightness curves at a greater resolution.
- Article
- Published: 11 March 2026
Farah, J.R., Prust, L.J., Howell, D.A. et al. Lense–Thirring precessing magnetar engine drives a superluminous supernova. Nature 651, 321–325 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10151-0
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