Two distinct cosmic explosions have captured global attention: a Type Ia supernova designated SN 2026aaiv discovered in spiral galaxy NGC 7331 on September 1, and an X-ray flash designated EP260321a spotted by the Einstein Probe in March 2026, which revealed a broad-lined Type Ic supernova now cataloged as SN 2026gzf.
Stargazers Capture SN 2026aaiv in Spiral Galaxy NGC 7331
Amateur astrophotographers and professional astronomers are tracking an extraordinary stellar explosion located roughly 45 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The supernova, officially named SN 2026aaiv, was first detected by the ATLAS survey on September 1 in the spiral galaxy NGC 7331, which is also cataloged as Caldwell 30. The host galaxy shares a striking similarity in size, shape, and mass with our own Milky Way, making it a familiar target for observers across the Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
The celestial event has drawn intense interest from astronomical imaging enthusiasts. Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captured four hours of data as part of a larger project, sharing his results on Instagram with the comment, As luck would have it, I happened to be in the middle of a massive project with this galaxy, and caught the supernova.
McCarthy added that The final image will be EPIC!
Tom Masterson, Mountain Operations Manager at the Mount Wilson Observatory, also imaged the transient event using a 60-inch telescope.
Observing Equipment and Coordinates for NGC 7331
By September 11, 2026, SN 2026aaiv registered at magnitude 15.7, remaining relatively dim while continuing to brighten. While large professional installations and remote dark-sky setups recorded detailed captures, backyard observers require specific tools to resolve the faint target. The host galaxy NGC 7331 shines at magnitude 10, demanding a telescope or large binoculars just to come into view, while the supernova itself presents a significantly stiffer visual challenge.
Experienced observers confirm spotting the supernova using a 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, often employing the averted vision technique to let light-sensitive rod cells detect faint structural details near the galaxy core. Meanwhile, automated smart telescope users have successfully imaged the transient. According to updates from the Seestar (Official ZWO Group) on Facebook, operators of the Seestar S50 captured SN 2026aaiv using default settings of two hours involving 10-second exposures.
For those searching the night sky, the coordinates are logged at RA 22h 37m 05.618s and Dec +34° 24′ 35.37″. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere can locate the region by looking east after dark toward the Great Square of Pegasus, identifying the star Scheat at the northwestern corner, and moving just above it to the dimmer star Matar, which sits near NGC 7331.
X-Ray Detection Unveils Shock Breakout in Supernova SN 2026gzf
While backyard observers turn their lenses toward Pegasus, professional teams are analyzing a separate, highly unusual stellar death located roughly 500 million light-years away. In March 2026, the Einstein Probe detected an initial flash of soft X-rays, designated EP260321a. Global ground-based networks quickly pivoted to monitor the rapidly brightening source, which astronomers designated SN 2026gzf.
Two independent research teams led by Jillian Rastinejad, a NASA Einstein Fellow at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Brendan O’Connor, an astronomer and McWilliams Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, analyzed the data. Their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirmed that the initial X-ray burst originated from a shock breakout,
representing the exact moment when the blast wave of a stellar explosion tears through a star’s surface to release its very first light.
“SN 2026gzf looks remarkably similar to other energetic supernovae that have been previously linked to gamma-ray bursts. Yet multi-wavelength follow-up observations using the most sensitive facilities found no evidence for a relativistic jet or an afterglow, which are typically seen in those events. One possibility is that the jet was ‘choked,’ either by the surface of the star or by circumstellar material surrounding the star.”
Global Observatories Track Evolving Spectra
The investigation into SN 2026gzf relied on an extensive suite of international facilities, including the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array.
Data analysis indicates that the progenitor star was likely a Wolf-Rayet star packing roughly 20 times the mass of our sun. Before collapsing, the star shed its outer hydrogen and helium layers through irregular mass-loss episodes, generating multiple shells of circumstellar material. Researchers concluded that one of these surrounding shells produced the initial X-ray burst, while a separate outer shell generated the first visual signs of the supernova.
