Through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, three different moments in a far-off supernova surge were captured in a single snapshot by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. The light from the supernova, which was located behind the galaxy cluster Abell 370, was multiply lensed by the clusters immense gravity. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Wenlei Chen (UMN), Patrick Kelly (UMN), Hubble Frontier Fields
Blast from the Past Caught in Episodes Due to Gravitational Lensing
Light from a star that exploded over 11 billion years ago was caught by the Hubble Space Telescope. It was not simply one postcard from the remote past however three messages that chronicle the fading fireball over a duration of one week.
For starters, the weak light from the supernova was amplified by the gravitational field of a massive foreground galaxy cluster, Abell 370. The gravitational warp in area functions as a cosmic lens, magnifying the light and bending from the more far-off supernova, which lay far behind the cluster.
A bonus for astronomers is that not one but three images of the supernova appear in the image, strung along the cluster. They reveal the surge over different times that all shown up at Hubble at the same time. A clue is that the cooling supernova fireball appears in a little different colors among the supernova images. The images reached different times since the length of the paths the supernova light followed is different. The later images were postponed due to taking a longer path throughout “valleys” of deformed area.
An idea is that the cooling supernova fireball appears in a little different colors amongst the supernova images. The images showed up at different times since the length of the paths the supernova light followed is various. The 3 paths were 3 different lengths and affected to various degrees by the slowing of time and curvature of space due to the cluster, so when the light gotten here at Hubble (on the same day in December 2010), the supernova appeared at 3 different stages of evolution.The left panel shows the part of Abell 370 where the multiple images of the supernova appeared. Panel B, a Hubble photo from December 2010, shows the three images of the host galaxy and the supernova at different phases in its development. Using a comparable image subtraction procedure for numerous filters of information, Panel D reveals the different colors of the cooling supernova at 3 different stages in its evolution.Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Wenlei Chen (UMN), Patrick Kelly (UMN), Hubble Frontier Fields
Through a “technique” of light-bending gravity, the Hubble Space Telescope recorded three different minutes in the surge of a very far-off supernova– all in one picture! Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
Hubble Captures 3 Faces of Evolving Supernova in Early Universe
NASAs Hubble Space Telescope captured three various moments in a far-off supernova surge in a single picture. When the star exploded more than 11 billion years earlier, the universe was less than a fifth of its existing age of 13.8 billion years.
In reality, this is the very first comprehensive take a look at a supernova so early in the universes history. The research might assist researchers discover more about the development of stars and galaxies in the early universe. The supernova images are likewise unique because they reveal the early stages of an outstanding explosion.
” It is rather uncommon that a supernova can be spotted at a really early stage, because that phase is really short,” described Wenlei Chen, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral scientist in the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy. “It only lasts for hours to a couple of days, and it can be easily missed out on even for a nearby detection. In the very same exposure, we are able to see a series of the images– like several faces of a supernova.”
Through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, 3 various minutes in a far-off supernova explosion were captured in a single snapshot by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. The light from the supernova, which lay behind the galaxy cluster Abell 370, was multiply lensed by the clusters tremendous gravity. This light took three various courses through the cosmic lens of the massive cluster. The 3 paths were 3 different lengths and impacted to different degrees by the slowing down of time and curvature of area due to the cluster, so when the light come to Hubble (on the same day in December 2010), the supernova appeared at three different phases of evolution.The left panel reveals the portion of Abell 370 where the several images of the supernova appeared. Panel A, a composite of Hubble observations from 2011 to 2016, shows the locations of the increase imaged host galaxy after the supernova faded. Panel B, a Hubble photo from December 2010, reveals the three images of the host galaxy and the supernova at different phases in its development. Panel C, which deducts the image in Panel B from that in Panel A, reveals 3 different faces of the evolving supernova. Using a comparable image subtraction process for several filters of information, Panel D shows the different colors of the cooling supernova at 3 various stages in its evolution.Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Wenlei Chen (UMN), Patrick Kelly (UMN), Hubble Frontier Fields
This was possible through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, which was first forecasted in Einsteins theory of basic relativity. In this case, the enormous gravity of the galaxy cluster Abell 370 served as a cosmic lens, flexing and magnifying the light from the more remote supernova located behind the cluster.
The warping also produced numerous pictures of the explosion over different time durations that all reached Earth at the same time and were captured in one Hubble image. That was possible just since the amplified images took different paths through the cluster due both to differences in the length of the paths the supernova light followed, and to the slowing down of time and curvature of area due to gravity.
The Hubble direct exposure likewise recorded the fading supernovas rapid change of color, which suggests temperature level modification. As the supernova cooled its light turned redder.
Through the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, NASAs Hubble Space Telescope caught three different minutes in the surge of a really far-off supernova– all in one picture! The bottom image is a magnified version of this area with the light paths marked for the 3 images of the supernova. The ideal side of the bottom image reveals the far-off galaxy in which the supernova blew up.
” You see different colors in the 3 different images,” stated Patrick Kelly, study leader and an assistant teacher in the University of Minnesotas School of Physics and Astronomy. “Youve got the massive star, the core collapses, it produces a shock, it warms up, and after that youre seeing it cool over a week. I think thats probably among the most incredible things Ive ever seen!”.
This is likewise the very first time astronomers were able to measure the size of a dying star in the early universe. This was based on the supernovas brightness and rate of cooling, both of which depend upon the size of the progenitor star. Hubble observations reveal that the red supergiant whose supernova surge the scientists discovered was about 500 times bigger than the Sun.
Chen, Kelly, and a worldwide group of astronomers found this supernova by sorting through the Hubble data archives, searching for transient occasions. Chen wrote machine-learning algorithms to discover these occasions, but this was the only increase imaged supernova determined.
Chen and Kelly both have time prepared for NASAs James Webb Space Telescope to observe a lot more distant supernovae. They want to contribute to a catalog of very far-off supernovae to help astronomers understand if the stars that existed numerous billions of years back are various from those in the nearby universe.
Recommendation: “Shock cooling of a red-supergiant supernova at redshift 3 in lensed images” by Wenlei Chen, Patrick L. Kelly, Masamune Oguri, Thomas J. Broadhurst, Jose M. Diego, Najmeh Emami, Alexei V. Filippenko, Tommaso L. Treu and Adi Zitrin, 9 November 2022, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-022-05252-5.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of worldwide cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, handles the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore carries out Hubble science operations. STScI is run for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.
