Rare Supernova Explosion

This image shows a core-collapse supernova explosion expelling a nearly spherical debris shell. This is the first time astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similiar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it. Scientists expect the discovery--made using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope--will point the way toward locating many more examples of these mysterious explosions. Radio observations will be a more powerful tool than gamma-ray satellites for discovering this kind of supernova in the universe.