Overview
- An analysis published March 11 in Nature models four rising‑frequency brightness oscillations in SN 2024afav as a signature of a newly formed magnetar.
- High‑cadence monitoring by the Las Cumbres Observatory over more than 200 days captured the distinctive bumps in a Type I superluminous supernova about a billion light‑years away.
- The timing of the oscillations is best matched by Lense–Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk around the neutron star, invoking general relativity.
- The team reports this as the first instance where relativistic frame‑dragging is required to describe supernova mechanics, with inferred spin and magnetic field consistent with a magnetar.
- Authors stress the result ties this event to a magnetar engine and suggest wider surveys, including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will test how common such chirps are.