Using JWST and HST, astronomers have discovered a second gravitationally lensed supernova in the same galaxy.
In November 2023 James Webb Space Telescope Observed huge Galaxy cluster It is called MACS J0138.0-2155. This is thanks to a phenomenon known as Gravitational lensfirst predicted by Albert Einstein, is far away galaxy The galaxy, called MRG-M0138, appears to have been skewed by the strong gravity of a nearby group of galaxies. In addition to bending and enlarging the distant galaxy, the gravitational lensing effect caused by MACS J0138 creates five different images of the galaxy MRG-M0138.
In 2019, astronomers announced a surprising discovery that a star exploded in MRG-M0138, i.e. planet MRG-M0138. SupernovaIt is clear in the pictures Hubble Space Telescope It was made in 2016. When another group of astronomers analyzed Webb's images of 2023, they were surprised to discover that a second supernova explosion had occurred in the same galaxy seven years later. Justin Birrell and Andrew Newman tell us more about this first case of finding two supernovae affected by gravitational lensing in the same galaxy.
When a supernova explodes behind a gravitational lens, its light reaches Earth via several different paths. We can compare these routes to several trains leaving the station at the same time, all traveling at the same speed and heading to the same destination. Each train takes a different route, and due to differences in journey length and terrain, trains do not reach their destinations at the same time. Likewise, images of supernovae affected by gravitational lensing appear to astronomers over days, weeks, or even years. By measuring differences in the timing of supernova images, we can measure the history of the expansion rate of the universe, known as… Hubble constant, which currently represents a major challenge in cosmology. The problem is that these frequently photographed supernovae are extremely rare: fewer than a dozen have been discovered so far.
In this small group of 2016 supernovae, MGR-M0138, called Requiem, stood out for several reasons. First, the amount was 10 billion Light year. Second, the supernova might have been the same write it)which is used as Standard candle To measure cosmic distances. Third, models predicted that one of the supernova images was so delayed by its path through the cluster's intense gravity that it would not appear until the mid-2030s, unfortunately, because Requiem was only discovered in 2019, long after it had disappeared from space. It was not possible to collect enough data to measure the Hubble Constant.
We have now found a second supernova due to gravitational lensing in the same cluster as Requiem, which we have named Encore Supernova. The apparition was discovered by chance, and we are now actively tracking the ongoing supernova. Using Webb's images, we will measure and confirm the Hubble constant based on this repeatedly imaged supernova. Encore has been confirmed to be a Type Ia supernova, making Encore and Requiem the most distant pair of standard candle-type supernovae ever discovered.
Supernovas are usually unpredictable, but in this case we know when and where to look to see the final appearance of the mass and apparition. Infrared observations around 2035 will record their final triumph and provide new, precise measurements of the Hubble constant.
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Agnieszka Novak
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Source: NASA
Pictured: The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a multi-photo supernova in a distant galaxy called MRG-M0138. Two images of the supernova (circled) are shown in the NIRCam image above, but an additional image of the supernova is expected around 2035. Source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Justin Bierle (STScI), and Andrew Newman (Institute Carnegie Science)
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