One supernova explosion every 50 years in our galaxy: that is the rate that a European team has determined from the observations of ESA’s INTEGRAL gamma-ray satellite. Finally, using results from theoretical nucleosynthesis models for a typical stellar population, the team could estimate the current star-formation rate in the galaxy to be about 7.5 stars a year, corresponding to a rate of core-collapse supernovae of 1.9 (±1.1) events a century. The rate of two supernovae a century in the Milky Way is consistent with the rate derived from supernovae detected in other galaxies, but exceeds several times the rate deduced from the historic observations of supernova explosions during the past 2000 years.