The powerful gravity of a massive cluster of galaxies in this Hubble Space Telescope image is producing multiple images of a single distant supernova behind it.
The foreground cluster is acting like a giant cosmic lens, bending and magnifying light from the exploding star in an effect called gravitational lensing.
The enlarged inset view reveals four images of the supernova, spotted on Nov. 11, 2014, arranged around a giant elliptical galaxy within the cluster. The light from the supernova passes so closely to the galaxy's dense core that several light paths are redirected and focused toward Earth. The result is that astronomers see four images that form a cross-shaped pattern called an Einstein Cross. The blue streaks wrapping around the galaxy are the stretched images of the supernova's host spiral galaxy, which has been distorted by the warping of space.
Computer models of the cluster predict that another image of the stellar blast will appear within five years. The red circle marks the possible location of the next supernova image. Astronomers may have missed an earlier appearance of the supernova in 1995, as marked by the blue circle. These multiple appearances of the exploding star are due to the various paths its light is taking through the maze of clumpy dark matter in the galactic grouping. Each image takes a different route through the cluster and arrives at a different time, due, in part, to differences in the length of the pathways the light follows to reach Earth.
The elliptical galaxy and its galaxy cluster, MACS J1149.6+2223, are 5 billion light-years away from Earth. The supernova, dubbed Supernova Refsdal, is 9.3 billion light-years away.
This image combines data from three months' worth of observations, taken in visible light by the Advanced Camera for Surveys and in near-infrared light by the Wide Field Camera 3.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and S. Rodney (JHU) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (UCLA), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team; and Z. Levay (STScI)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SN Refsdal, SN HFF14Ref (supernova), MACS J1149.6+2223 (cluster) |
| Object Description | Multiply Imaged, Gravitationally Lensed Supernova and Lensing Galaxy Cluster |
| R.A. Position | 11h 49m 35.08s |
| Dec. Position | 22° 24' 10.94" |
| Constellation | Leo |
| Distance | 9.3 billion light-years or 2.9 billion parsecs (supernova); 5 billion light-years or 1.5 billion parsecs (cluster) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image is created from data from the following HST proposals: T. Treu (UCLA) et al. and the GLASS team, J. Lotz (STScI) et al. and the Frontier Fields team, S. Rodney (JHU) et al. and the FrontierSN team, and P. Kelly (UCLA) et al. and the Refsdal team. The science team includes: P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), S. Rodney (JHU), T. Treu (UCLA), R. Foley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), G. Brammer (STScI), K. Schmidt (UC Santa Barbara), A. Zitrin (Caltech), A. Sonnenfeld (UCLA), L.-G. Strolger (Western Kentucky University/STScI), O. Graur (New York University/American Museum of Natural History), A. Filippenko (UC Berkeley), S. Jha (Rutgers University), A. Riess (JHU/STScI), M. Bradac (UC Davis), B. Weiner (Steward Observatory/UA), D. Scolnic (University of Chicago), M. Malkan (UCLA), A. von der Linden (Dark Cosmology Centre, Copenhagen/KIPAC, Stanford), M. Trenti (University of Melbourne), J. Hjorth (Dark Cosmology Centre, Copenhagen), R. Gavazzi (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), A. Fontana (INAF-OAR), J. Merten (Caltech), C. McCully and T. Jones (UC Santa Barbara), M. Postman (STScI), A. Dressler (Carnegie Observatories), B. Patel (Rutgers University), S. B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC), M. Graham (UC Berkeley), and B. Tucker (UC Berkeley/Australia National University). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | November 3, 2014 - December 14, 2014 |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F606W and F814W WFC3/IR: F105W, F125W, F140W, and F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are composites of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F606W+F814W Green: F105W+F125W Red: F140W+F160W |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
