Measuring cosmic distances is challenging, and astronomers rely on many methods and tools to do it—collectively referred to as the cosmic distance ladder.
A particularly important tool Type Ia supernovaeIt occurs in binary systems where a star (white dwarf) consumes material from a companion (often a red giant) until it reaches the Chandrasekhar limit and collapses under its own mass.
When these stars throw off their outer layers in a big explosion, they temporarily outshine everything in the background.
In a recent study, an international team of researchers led by Ariel Cooper Oscar Klein Center An unusual Type Ia supernova, SN Zwicky (SN 2022qmx) was discovered at Stockholm University.
In an unusual twist, the team observed “The Einstein Ring„, an unusual phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, where a gravitational lens in the foreground amplifies light from a distant object.
It was a major achievement for the team as it observed two extremely rare astronomical phenomena.
Several researchers were formed from the group Oscar Klein CenterThe Kavli Institute for CosmologyThe Cahill Center for AstrophysicsThe Center for Infrared Processing and Analysis (IPAC), The Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and Research in Astrophysics (Close Lyon Center for Astrophysical ResearchNASA Goddard, The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), and many other universities.
Their research paper detailing their findings was recently published Natural Astronomy.
An initial diagnosis was made using this Swiggy is a static facility at the Palomar Laboratory in California. The facility is named after Fritz Zwicky dark matter In the 1930s.
A few weeks later, the team observed it with adaptive optics (AO). WM Keck Observatory Mauna Kea, Hawaii and The A very large telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Based on the observed brightness, Cooper and his colleagues hypothesized that they were observing a strong lensing effect.
This follow-up was obtained through observations and images Hubble Space Telescope Confirmation of this theory showed that a multi-image lensing effect was caused by a foreground galaxy that magnified the supernova by a factor of 25!
This serendipitous discovery offers many opportunities for astronomers, including the ability to study SN Swiggy in more detail and further explore the mysteries of gravitational arcs. Cooper explained at Stockholm University Press release:
„The discovery of SN Swiggy not only demonstrates the remarkable capabilities of modern astronomical instruments, but also represents a significant step forward in our quest to understand the fundamental forces that shape our universe.”
However, its implications go beyond these two events. The study of Type Ia supernovae has shown astronomers that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate.
This discovery was made available to the discovery team 2011 Nobel Prize in PhysicsIt was divided between Saul Perlmutter (Supernova Cosmology Project), and jointly with Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Reyes (Hi-Z Supernova Search Group)
Therefore, observations of SN Zwicky may help astronomers solve the mystery of what causes this accelerated expansion.
frameborder=”0″ permission=”accelerometer; automatic; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; Gyroscope; picture-picture; web-share” license>
„The extreme magnification of SN Zwicky provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the properties of distant Type Ia supernova explosions, which we will need when we use them to probe their nature. Dark energy,” said Joel Johansson, a postdoctoral fellow at Stockholm University and co-author of the study.
Beyond that, it will help astronomers pull back the veil dark matter State theories about how the universe will end (ie, Big Crunch, Big Rip, heat death, etc.).
This article was originally published Universe Today. Read on Original article.
„Oddany rozwiązywacz problemów. Przyjazny hipsterom praktykant bekonu. Miłośnik kawy. Nieuleczalny introwertyk. Student.