The James Webb Space Telescope has made a recordbreaking observation in deep space. The infrared observatory has given astronomers their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from when our universe was just a small fraction of its current age. 

Within a patch of sky about the size of a rice grain held at arm's length, Webb has discovered at least 80 supernovae, increasing the number of known supernovae in the early universe by tenfold. Some of these newly found supernovae are the farthest we've ever seen, including ones that help us measure how fast the universe is expanding.

To discover supernovae, the team compared several images taken up to a year apart, searching for sources that either appeared or vanished. These objects, which change in brightness over time, are known as transients. Supernovae are a specific type of transient. The team spent over 100 hours of Webb's observing time on each image, and the results have opened a new window into the early universe.

REFERENCES:

The JADES Transient Survey: Discovery and Classification of Supernovae in the JADES Deep Field, DeCoursey et al https://bit.ly/3KXP96x

NASA Press Release https://bit.ly/3z1ekm5

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Created, Written, and Produced by: Rishabh Nakra
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