Overview
- Researchers report the first confirmed James Webb Space Telescope detection of a supernova progenitor in peer-reviewed work published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
- Archival Webb MIRI and NIRCam data from 2024 show a single red supergiant at the exact site of SN 2025pht that pre-explosion Hubble images failed to detect.
- The circumstellar material is likely rich in carbon rather than the expected silicate dust, indicating unusual late-stage chemistry around the star.
- The supernova’s light was discovered on June 29, 2025, in the nearby galaxy NGC 1637, though the explosion occurred roughly 40 million years ago.
- The Northwestern-led team plans broader searches for dusty progenitors and anticipates new constraints from future missions such as NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.