Supernova: Hubble telescope takes spectacular image from space

Perfect timing: The Hubble Space Telescope captured a stellar explosion shortly after it formed. This is reported by a team of international researchers in an article in the scientific journal “Nature”. The images show a supernova that occurred 11.5 billion years ago.

Because the star is hiding behind a cluster of galaxies called Abell 370, the so-called gravitational lensing has led to the supernova’s visibility, they say. The effect causes large, massive objects such as Abell 370 in the foreground to bend the light from the stars behind them, making them visible.

The light from the newly discovered supernova has even been refracted several times by the enormous gravity of Abell 370, the scientists report. This allowed Hubble to image the supernova in multiple states.

The first of three images shows the star’s state, about six hours after it exploded, the researchers note. The other two images show the star 10 and 30 days after it exploded.

After examining the data from the images, such as the brightness and color of the explosion, the researchers assume that the exploded star was a so-called red supergiant. Based on its diameter, scientists estimate that it was 530 times larger than the Sun.

Hubble had already taken the photos in 2010. They were only now discovered after the team searched the space telescope’s archive images for images of gravitational lenses. The researchers hope their discovery will help in the ongoing search for distant stellar explosions.

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((t-online,sha ))