Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science

INBOX ASTRONOMY

NASA's Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science

Release date: Monday, June 10, 2024 3:15:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Webb finds 10 times more supernovae in the early universe than known before.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is proving to be a fine supernova hunter! With its extreme infrared sensitivity, Webb is finding far-off supernovae almost everywhere it looks. Webb is ideal for identifying extremely distant supernovae because of a phenomenon called cosmological redshift, in which light traveling across the universe is stretched into longer wavelengths. Visible light from ancient supernovae is stretched so much that it ends up in the infrared. Webb’s instruments are tuned to see infrared light, making it ideal for finding these distant supernovae. Using data from a deep Webb survey of the early universe, a team has identified 10 times more far-off supernovae than were previously known. This study is the first significant step toward more extensive surveys of ancient supernovae with Webb.

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Find additional articles, images, and videos at WebbTelescope.org

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