The James Webb Space Telescope was surprised.  “Supernova detection machine”

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During the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Madison, Wisconsin Christa DeCourcyA third-year student at the University of Arizona, she shared the results of her observations using the James Webb Space Telescope. It turns out that Using the James Webb Space Telescope, it was possible to identify 10 times more supernovae in the early universe than previous research suggested.

The team analyzed imaging data acquired by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) programme. Before launching the observatory at the end of 2021, astronomers had only discovered a small number of supernovae since the universe was 3.3 billion years old (i.e. 25% of its current age). Images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope have allowed us to look even further into the pastBecause the universe was less than 2 billion years old.


Image: NASA

A team of astronomers examining JADES data identified about 80 objects (circled in green).

“We are trying to determine whether distant supernovae are different from what we see in the nearby universe or whether they are very similar,” said Justin Perel, a NASA Einstein Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, who was also involved in the project. the study. At the same time this was emphasized The work of the American team is only the first step, thanks to which in the future it will be possible to carefully observe and study ancient supernovae. (Currently we can only detect them.)

This mosaic shows three of about 80 transients, or objects of variable brightness, identified in JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) data.

Image: NASA

This mosaic shows three of about 80 transients, or objects of variable brightness, identified in JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) data.

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, the team identified several ancient supernovae, A The oldest was created when its predecessor star exploded, when the universe was only 1.8 billion years old. This is a so-called supernova resulting from the collapse of the core, that is, the explosion of an extremely massive star. Finally, the researchers add:

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