Supernovae
Only Hubble Could Make this Measurement of a Supernova
Calculating the distance to far-away objects, such as galaxy clusters and quasars, is difficult. But it is also critical to…
Supernovae: Why study them? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has recently investigated a myriad of scientific disciplines, including impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets,…
Webb is an Amazing Supernova Hunter
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just increased the number of known distant supernovae by tenfold. This rapid expansion…
The Brightest Gamma Ray Burst Ever Seen Came from a Collapsing Star
After a journey lasting about two billion years, photons from an extremely energetic gamma-ray burst (GRB) struck the sensors on…
The Large Magellanic Cloud isn’t Very Metal
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the Milky Way's most massive satellite galaxy. Because it's so easily observed, astronomers have…
Astronomers Catch a Supernova Explode Almost in Realtime
Catching a supernova in action is tricky business. There is no way to predict them, and they don’t occur very…
Even if We Can’t See the First Stars, We Could Detect Their Impact on the First Galaxies
For a long time, our understanding of the Universe's first galaxies leaned heavily on theory. The light from that age…
This Galaxy Hosted One of the Most Powerful Supernovae Ever Seen
In 2010, an exceptionally luminous supernova exploded in a small galaxy about 150 million light-years away called UGC 5189A. The…
Webb Sees a Supernova Go Off in a Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy – for the Second Time
Nature, in its infinite inventiveness, provides natural astronomical lenses that allow us to see objects beyond the normal reach of…
The Second Most Energetic Cosmic Ray Ever Found
"Oh My God," someone must have said in 1991 when researchers detected the most energetic cosmic ray ever to strike…