Follow-up observations identified the source, initially designated EP260321a and later named supernova SN 2026gzf, as a broad-lined Type Ic supernova. Such explosions occur when massive stars that have lost their outer layers of hydrogen and helium collapse. The flash was the faintest shock breakout yet linked to a broad-lined Type Ic supernova, according to the research team. A close up of the area of space that contains the the galaxy home to supernova SN 2026gz, taken by the LSST Camera at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Instead, massive stars may reach similar-looking explosions through a wider variety of pathways than astronomers previously recognized.