Rubin image of SN 2026gzf (annotated) (IMAGE)
Caption
These images show the evolution of supernova SN 2026gzf, which was first detected by the Einstein Probe on 21 March 2026. Images taken on 25 March and 3 April 2026 show the supernova brightening. Archival images of the host galaxy from 9 March 2016 and 20 May 2025 reveal a bright blue source at the location of the supernova, which scientists say likely represents a compact, extreme star-forming region in the host galaxy, combined with pre-explosion activity of the progenitor star before its death.
These images were captured with the LSST Camera, mounted on NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science (DOE/SC), and the 570-megapixel DOE-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the NSF Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
View the individual images at the following links: pre-explosion field, 9 March 2016, 20 May 2025, 25 March 2026, 3 April 2026.
SN 2026gzf occurred within Rubin’s COSMOS Deep Drilling Field. Observations of this field, including this image, were recently made public as part of Rubin’s Early Data Preview 2 (EDP2) — the first data preview based on observations from the LSST Camera. EDP2 combines Rubin’s science validation observations collected between April 2025 and January 2026.
Credit
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
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License
CC BY