March 31, 2008—A detailed image of the galaxy NGC 2397 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope offered scientists a rare glimpse at the early stages of Supernova 2006bc (inset).

Astronomers at Iceland's Queen's University Belfast unveiled the image this week to illustrate their decade-long effort working backward to match supernovae with their precursor stars.

So far only six matches have been made, but the work already suggests that stars as little as seven times the mass of our sun can go supernova.

• More Photos in the News
• Today's 15 Most Read Stories
• Free Email Newsletter: Focus on Photography