I’m a big fan of astronomy-related news, so this was a nice little read. But I’d much rather prefer some Hubble shots of this supernova than the artist’s rendition chosen instead. The drawing evidently shows what the star “may have looked like when it exploded.”
My two grudges:
1) I’m not a big fan of concept pictures unless the subject is purely theoretical or immensely difficult to capture. I’ve seen plenty of real exploding star pics to know this is not the case here. Why should I believe the artist? “May have looked like” is not a very convincing disclaimer.
2) If you are going to use a concept picture of what an exploding star might look like, go all out! We’re talking about the brightest supernova ever! That’s the picture you choose?! C’mon! What about this or this?!