The birth of a dying star

Bad Astronomy has a great, informative post on the first observation of a supernova in real time. Of course, "real time" to astronomers in this case means an event that happened about 84 million years ago.

I'd like to be able to say something profound about this discovery. In my twenties, I labored an entire summer to write a play that used the death of stars as a metaphor for the human condition. Now in my thirties, lazier and more humble, I am content to say:

Wow.

(I also recently spent an entire summer following the show Rockstar Supernova, so that gives you another idea of how I've matured.)