Scientists find supernova using gravitational lensing

In a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, an international team of scientists describes using a ‘cosmic gravitational lens’ to view a rare supernova located 4 billion light-years from Earth. They claim that used a foreground galaxy as a gravitational lens to magnify the supernova about 25 times.

The event was detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) observatory; no wonder the supernova was named SN Zwicky. After seeing an initial signal, they used adaptive optical instruments from the Very Large Telescopes (VLT) and the Hubble Space Telescope to verify magnification with gravitational lensing.

Scientists believe the magnified images represent opportunity for astronomers to learn more about dark matter, inner cores, and other properties of galaxies. In total, the team managed to capture four images of the supernova from different locations.

“The SN Zwicky discovery not only showcases the extraordinary capabilities of modern astronomical instruments, but also represents an important step forward in our quest to understand the fundamental forces that shape our universe,” said the paper’s lead author and director of the Oskar Klein Center. Ariel Gooba at Stockholm University.

Supernova and gravitational lensing

Data from SN Zwicky could also help scientists measure cosmic distances, as astronomer and one of the study’s authors explains, Igor Andreoni. In addition, the team believes that this working model could serve as a tool for understanding the dark energy dispersed throughout the universe.

The astronomer says the technique used to find SN Zwicky will continue to be used to collect large amounts of data on other similar events, such as supernovas and gamma-ray bursts. In fact, the new approach will make it possible to collect data from the temporal sky with “unprecedented depth”.

“SN Zwicky is not only magnified by gravitational lensing, it also belongs to a class of supernovae we call ‘standard candles’ because we can use their known brightness to determine distance in space. The farther away a light source is, the dimmer the light – like seeing candles in a dark room. we could compare the two light sources and get an independent distance measurement without actually having to study the galaxy itself,” said Andreoni.