NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a surprising discovery, detecting a new form of supernova, named “SN 2023adsy,” thanks to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Astronomers, TechTimes reported on Tuesday. It is the most distant such supernova ever identified.
Supernovae are a powerful and luminous explosion of stars. These stellar explosions are critical for astronomers because they provide significant information about the evolution of stars and galaxies.
They are commonly categorized into two types based on their atomic spectra: Type I lacks hydrogen, and Type II, has hydrogen spectral lines.
Type Ia supernovae, often known as SN Ia, occur in binary systems with at least one white dwarf (a small, very dense star, typically the size of a planet, that has exhausted its nuclear fuel).
SN 2023adsy was identified last year as a transient object from the galaxy JADES-GS+53.13485-27.82088.
The research of STScI’s Justin R. Pierel uncovered further information about this supernova in a very recent investigation.
In galaxy geekspeak, the researchers reported having observed SN 2023adsy through the telescope, revealing a spectroscopic redshift of z = 2.903 ± 0.007. Based on spectra and light curve measurements, this classification verified that it is the most distant SN Ia yet observed.
The photos suggest that SN 2023adsy looks unusually red, which might be due to the presence of significant dust from its host galaxy, JADES-GS+53.13485-27.82088.
However, the host galaxy has a low mass, metallicity, and extinction, which suggests that the explosion is inherently red, according to the study team.
The study also discovered that SN 2023adsy had significant ionized calcium spectral lines (Ca II) and a measured velocity of around 19,000 km/s, which is greater than what is generally found in known SNe Ia.
The researchers discovered that several other calcium-rich Type Ia supernovae have similar properties. However, SN 2023adsy is brighter than the majority of low-redshift calcium-rich SNe Ia.
The authors of the research indicated the need for further observation of Type Ia supernovae to determine if SN 2023adsy is an outlier or if the features of these supernovae change considerably with redshift owing to changes in their progenitors or surroundings.
They found that observation of a larger sample of distant SNe Ia is required to determine if the properties of high-redshift SN Ia populations genuinely differ from their low-redshift counterparts and to subsequently validate that standardized luminosities stay constant with redshift.
Photographs show the incredible red of this recently discovered supernova.