An international research team combed through Fermi\u2019s first 16 years of data, focusing on the six nearest superluminous supernovae.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe searched for gamma rays from the six nearest superluminous supernovae seen during the first 16 years of Fermi\u2019s mission,\u201d explained Guillem Mart\u00ed-Devesa, formerly of the University of Trieste and now at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. Remarkably, SN 2017egm was the only event showing evidence of gamma rays, confirming that some supernovae can shine as brightly in high-energy light as they do in visible wavelengths. \u201cThis opens up a new window for studying these fascinating events,\u201d Mart\u00ed-Devesa added.<\/p>\n
![\"Gamma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aa58547-25-fig1.jpg.webp\")
Comparison of the\u00a0r\u00a0band absolute magnitude (left) and the pseudo-bolometric (using the\u00a0gri\u00a0bands; right) luminosity light curves for the objects of our samples. The light curves have been aligned to\u00a0r\u00a0band peak; see Sect.\u00a02.2\u00a0for more details. Fewer time bins appear in the luminosity panel because of the unfulfilled requirement of simultaneous\u00a0g\u2005\u2212\u2005r\u2005\u2212\u2005i\u00a0observations in some bins.
Credit: Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/p>\n
Magnetars As Central Engines Of Cosmic Fireworks<\/p>\n
Theorists have long suspected that magnetars, neutron stars with magnetic fields a thousand times stronger than normal, could power superluminous supernovae. When a massive star collapses, the core may form a magnetar spinning hundreds of times per second, releasing energy through high-speed winds of electrons and positrons. These particles create a magnetar wind nebula, which interacts with the supernova debris and produces gamma rays.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout three months after the collapse, as the supernova debris expands and cools, the gamma rays can begin to leak out,\u201d Acero said. \u201cThis magnetar model best reproduces the supernova\u2019s luminosity and the arrival time of its gamma rays during the first months, but we see room for improvement at later times, when the visible light fades quite irregularly.\u201d The detection offers a tangible connection between theoretical predictions and actual observations, providing insights into the physics powering these rare events.<\/p>\n
Gamma Rays As A Direct Probe Into Supernova Engines<\/p>\n
Observing gamma rays from superluminous supernovae allows astronomers to study their inner mechanisms more directly than ever. \u201cGamma rays give us a direct probe of the central engine powering these explosions,\u201d said Manos Chatzopoulos, associate professor at LSU. He noted that models predicted high-energy emissions would appear once the ejecta became transparent enough, but until SN 2017egm, there was no sufficiently nearby event to confirm this. \u201cThis detection may represent some of the clearest evidence yet that we are directly observing these processes in action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers also explored additional contributing processes, such as fallback debris onto the magnetar and interactions with material expelled by the star before its collapse. Combining these insights with advanced modeling and long-term gamma-ray data, the team aims to refine predictions for future supernovae and understand how magnetars sculpt the brightest explosions in the universe.<\/p>\n
The detection underscores the value of long-term monitoring and coordination between space-based and ground-based observatories. Scientists analyzed how facilities like the Cerenkov Telescope Array Observatory could detect similar supernovae, estimating that events like SN 2017egm could be observed out to roughly 500 million light-years with sufficient exposure time.<\/p>\n \u201cFermi continues to surprise us even after nearly two decades of observations,\u201d said Michela Negro, assistant professor at LSU. This breakthrough highlights the promise of next-generation gamma-ray telescopes, which will further illuminate the inner workings of magnetars and superluminous supernovae, providing new perspectives on how massive stars die and seed the universe with energy and elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has provided what may be the first clear detection of gamma rays from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79,193],"class_list":["post-656843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Gamma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aa58547-25-fig2.jpg.webp\")
Luminosity light curves in the 100 MeV \u2013 100 GeV energy range over 16 yrs for each SN of our sample from the\u00a0Fermi\u00a0launch to August 2024 with a time bin of 6 months. A flux point is shown when the TS > 4, otherwise upper limits at the 95% confidence level are reported. In all time bins, the spectral index of the tested source is fixed to 2. The SN discovery date is also indicated. For a comparison across the sample, the derived\u00a0Fermi-LAT flux is transformed to luminosity using the distance indicated in Table\u00a01<\/a>.
Credit: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Future Observations And Next-Generation Facilities<\/p>\n