<p>[Supernova</a> Caught Starting to Explode for First Time](<a href=“National Geographic”>National Geographic)</p>
<p>A brilliant burst of light marking a dying star’s final moments before exploding has been glimpsed by astronomers for the first time. Called a shock breakout, the x-ray flashdetected in Januarysignals the destruction of a star several times more massive than our sun. </p>
<p>This “first light” is just the opening salvo of a larger supernova blast that tears the star apart from within. “They come out at the moment the star cracks open,” said study team member Alicia Soderberg, an astrophysicist at Princeton University in New Jersey. </p>
<p>[BBC</a> NEWS | Science/Nature | Exploding star caught in the act](<a href=“http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7413160.stm]BBC”>BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Exploding star caught in the act)
[FOXNews.com</a> - Supernova Birth Observed for First Time - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357144,00.html]FOXNews.com”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357144,00.html)
[Bloomberg.com:</a> Science](<a href=“Bloomberg Politics - Bloomberg”>Bloomberg Politics - Bloomberg)
[Princeton</a> University - Seeing stars: Princeton University scientists witness once-in-a-lifetime event](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S21/13/76G41/index.xml?section=topstories]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S21/13/76G41/index.xml?section=topstories)</p>
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<p>Links to Princeton’s Astrophysics Department</p>
<p>[Astrophysical</a> Sciences - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.astro.princeton.edu/index.htm]Astrophysical”>Department of Astrophysical Sciences)
[In</a> the News - Astrophysical Sciences - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.astro.princeton.edu/in_the_news.htm]In”>http://www.astro.princeton.edu/in_the_news.htm)</p>