An axisymmetric shock breakout indicated by prompt polarized emission from the type II supernova 2024ggi
The death of massive stars is triggered by an infall-induced bounce shock that disrupts the star. How such a shock is launched and propagates through the star is a decade-long puzzle. Some models assume that the shock can be reenergized by absorbing neutrinos, leading to highly aspherical explosions. Other models involve jet-powered shocks that lead to bipolar explosions reflected in the geometry of the shock-breakout emission. We report measurement of the geometry of the shock breakout through unprecedentedly early spectropolarimetry of the nearby type II supernova 2024ggi starting ~1.2 days after the explosion. The measurement indicates a well-defined symmetry axis of the shock breakout, which is also shared by the hydrogen-rich envelope that emerged after the circumstellar matter was engulfed by the ejecta, revealing a persisting and prominent symmetry axis throughout the explosion. These findings suggest that the physical mechanism driving the explosion of massive stars manifests a well-defined axial symmetry and acts on large scales.
Authors
- Gaici Li
- Yi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6535-8500)
- Aleksandar Cikota (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7101-9831)
- Mattia Bulla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8255-5127)
- P. Hoêflich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4338-6586)
- A. V. Filippenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3460-0103)
- J. C. Wheeler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-6538)
- A. Gal‐Yam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3653-5598)
- Kishore C. Patra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1092-6806)
- Shengyu Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4256-1209)
- Divya Mishra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5965-0997)
- Sergiy S. Vasylyev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4951-8762)
- Justyn R. Maund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0733-7215)
- D. Baade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1637-9679)
- Steve Schulze (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6797-1889)
- F. Patat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0537-3573)
- Lifan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7092-9374)
- Chris Ashall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5221-7557)
- Xiaofeng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7334-2357)
- H. Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5688-0870)
- Xudong Wen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3401-7133)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- European Southern Observatory (DE)
- Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- University of Ferrara (IT)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Mitchell Institute (US)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Ferrara (IT)
- Gemini South Observatory (CL)
- Collurania Teramo Observatory (IT)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx2925
- Primary Topic
- Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00