JWST’s first triple-image supernova could save the Universe

One potential solution could lie in directly measuring larger numbers of objects whose intrinsic properties are known — so-called “standard candles” like type Ia supernovae — at ever-greater distances. A huge challenge to this has been that supernovae are rare, infrequent, and very difficult to observe at extreme distances. Even with its unprecedentedly powerful eyes, JWST, with its narrow field-of-view, will only observed these events rarely. However, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.07326" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a new proof-of-concept has just arrived</a>. In a new paper just submitted on September 13, 2023, <a href="https://www.as.arizona.edu/people/faculty/brenda-frye" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Brenda Frye</a> and collaborators spotted a type Ia supernova that appeared in triple: magnified and distorted by the gravity of a foreground galaxy cluster. It just might be the key to measuring, to greater precision and accuracy than ever before, exactly how the Universe truly is expanding. <a href="https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/jwsts-first-triple-image-supernova-could-save-the-universe-b50529dee8ca">Website</a>