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  1. NASA's Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science

    June 10, 2024Release ID: 2024-122 Missions: Webb

    Webb finds 10 times more supernovae in the early universe than known before.

    Space telescope image showing hundreds of objects of different colors, shapes, and sizes scattered across the black background of space, with about 80 of the objects circled in green.

  2. Webb Finds Evidence for Neutron Star at Heart of Young Supernova Remnant

    February 22, 2024Release ID: 2024-112 Missions: Webb

    Astronomers detect long-sought compact object within the remnant of Supernova 1987A.

    A three-panel image. At left, a mottled light pink oval with a light blue, keyhole-shaped blob in the middle, surrounded by a few stars. At right, two stacked panels show a bright orange ring with an orange dot in the middle.

  3. NASA's Roman to Use Rare Events to Calculate Expansion Rate of Universe

    February 07, 2024Release ID: 2024-202 Missions: STScI, Roman

    Lensed supernovae offer precise, independent measurement

    A field of galaxies on the black background of space. Some are blue and white, others glow yellow. In the middle of the field is a cluster of five yellowish spiral and elliptical galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. There is one spiral galaxy just below the cluster that has a yellow-whiteish core and is surrounded by diffuse blue material. This galaxy is outlined by a white box, and lines extend from the box’s corners that leads to an enlarged view at the right. Four arrows point at yellow faint points of light that circle the central glow of the galaxy.

  4. NASA's Webb Stuns With New High-Definition Look at Exploded Star

    December 10, 2023Release ID: 2023-149 Missions: Webb

    Mysterious features hide in near-infrared light

    Cassiopeia A, a circular-shaped cloud of gas and dust with complex structure. The inner shell is made of bright pink and orange filaments studded with clumps and knots that look like tiny pieces of shattered glass. Around the exterior of the inner shell, particularly at the upper right, there are curtains of wispy gas that look like campfire smoke. The white smoke-like material also appears to fill the cavity of the inner shell, featuring structures shaped like large bubbles. Around and within the nebula, there are various stars seen as points of blue and white light. Outside the nebula, there are also clumps of yellow dust, with a particularly large clump at the bottom right corner that appears to have very detailed striations.

  5. The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA's Webb

    October 30, 2023Release ID: 2023-137 Missions: Webb

    Exquisite, never-before-seen details help unravel the supernova remnant’s puzzling history.

    An oval nebula with complex structure against a black background.

  6. NASA's Hubble Finds Bizarre Explosion in Unexpected Place

    October 05, 2023Release ID: 2023-024 Missions: Hubble

    Extraordinarily Bright Bursts of Light Found Between Galaxies

    Illustration of one of brightest explosions ever seen in space. Called a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), it shines intensely in blue light. It appears as a bright white blob left of center where blue-white and red rays sprout out from it. Toward the right of the image there is a spiral galaxy. To the upper left is another whitish galaxy shaped like a cigar. The LFBOT doesn’t seem to be associated with either galaxy.

  7. Webb Reveals New Structures Within Iconic Supernova

    August 31, 2023Release ID: 2023-136 Missions: Webb

    Small crescent-like structures come into clear view.

    A supernova. The center of the image contains a dense green cloud, shaped like a keyhole. Within this keyhole, there is a dark spot, composed of even denser gas. Outside of this cloud of gas is a ring of dense orange gas and dust that becomes more diffused as it travels further away from the center. The innermost part of this dense orange ring contains brighter orange clumps of glowing gas. Outside of these structures, both above and below them, are very faint orange rings of gas and dust. There are several bright white stars, three of which show an eight-pronged diffraction pattern brought about by the Webb Space Telescope. Several other white stars are strewn throughout the image.

  8. Webb Locates Dust Reservoirs in Two Supernovae

    July 05, 2023Release ID: 2023-115 Missions: Webb

    The finding suggests supernovae are likely suppliers of dust to early, young galaxies.

    A 4-part image is split down the middle with a vertical white line, at the top right of each half of the image is a white box extending out from lines connected to smaller white boxes in each image. On the left side, the large white box connected to the smaller white box is labeled SN 2004et. In this larger box is a zoomed-in image of a dot on the larger background image, and the zoomed-in image appears as a splotchy, red and white circle. On the right side, the large white box is labeled SN 2017eaw, and the zoomed-in image is a small light blue dot. The background images on each side are mostly black sections of a galaxy, with various smatterings of white dust clumps, small red dots, and light blue dots.

  9. Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Cassiopeia A

    April 07, 2023Release ID: 2023-121 Missions: Webb

    Glowing dust and elements display complex structures that are challenging for scientists to explain.

    A roughly square image is rotated clockwise about 45 degrees, with solid black in the corners on the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right. Within the image is a circular-shaped nebula with complex structure. On the circle’s exterior, particularly at the top and left of the image, lie curtains of material glowing orange. Interior to this outer shell lies a ring of mottled filaments of bright pink studded with clumps and knots. At center right, a greenish loop extends from the right side of the ring into the central cavity. Translucent wisps of blue, green, and red appear throughout the image.

  10. Hubble Captures 3 Faces of Evolving Supernova in Early Universe

    November 09, 2022Release ID: 2022-054 Missions: Hubble

    Blast from the Past Caught in Episodes Due to Gravitational Lensing

    The left panel shows the portion of Abell 370 where the multiple images of the supernova appeared. Panel A, a composite of Hubble observations from 2011 to 2016, shows the locations of the multiply imaged host galaxy after the supernova faded. Panel B, a Hubble picture from December 2010, shows the three images of the host galaxy and the supernova at different phases in its evolution. Panel C, which subtracts the image in Panel B from that in Panel A, shows three different faces of the evolving supernova. Using a similar image subtraction process for multiple filters of data, Panel D shows the different colors of the cooling supernova at three different stages in its evolution.

  11. Hubble Reaches New Milestone in Mystery of Universe's Expansion Rate

    May 19, 2022Release ID: 2022-005 Missions: Hubble

    Three Decades of Space Telescope Observations Converge on a Precise Value for the Hubble Constant

    Collage of 36 colorful spiral and interacting galaxies

  12. Hubble Reveals Surviving Companion Star in Aftermath of Supernova

    May 05, 2022Release ID: 2022-011 Missions: Hubble

    The discovery helps explain the puzzle of hydrogen loss pre-supernova, and supports the theory that most massive stars are paired.

    Supernova and Remnant Star Illustration

  13. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery

    March 07, 2022Release ID: 2022-013 Missions: Hubble

    The ACS continues to deliver ground-breaking science.

    Collage of nebulae, stars, galaxy field, and a gaseous planet

  14. Hubble Gives Unprecedented, Early View of a Doomed Star's Destruction

    October 21, 2021Release ID: 2021-007 Missions: Hubble

    Astronomers witnessed the spectacular death of the star as it happened.

    SN 2020fqv in galaxy NGC 4568

  15. Rerun of Supernova Blast Is Expected to Appear in 2037

    September 13, 2021Release ID: 2021-030 Missions: Hubble

    Giant Galaxy Cluster Magnifies the Light from a Distant Supernova and Splits It into Multiple Images

    MACSJ0138 thumbnail

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