Astronomers discover possible elusive star behind supernova: One team finds it utilizing Keck Observatory’s optics system

This artist’s concept shows a blue supergiant star that once existed inside a cluster of young stars in the spiral galaxy NGC 3938, located 65 million light-years away, and spotted in 2017 exploding as a supernova. (COURTESY PHOTO/NASA, ESA, J. OLMSTED, STScI)

WAIMEA — Astronomers may have finally uncovered the long-sought progenitor to a specific type of exploding star by sifting through NASA Hubble Space Telescope archival data and conducting follow-up observations using W. M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea.