First off. Let's get what a 'supernova' is. A supernova is the explosion of a massive star at the end of its life cycle. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? Now, we have recently come across reports suggesting that scientists have confirmed the discovery of the most distant supernova ever detected. What does it seem like? It's a huge cosmic explosion that took place 10.5 billion years ago, or three-quarters the age of the universe.
The exploding star, named DES16C2nm, was detected by the Dark Energy Survey (DES), an international collaboration to map several hundred million galaxies in order to find out more about dark energy, the mysterious force believed to be causing the accelerated expansion of the universe. As detailed in the study published in The Astrophysical Journal, light from the event has taken 10.5 billion years to reach Earth, making it the oldest supernova ever discovered and studied! How old is the universe you ask? It's a good 13.8 billion years old.
“It is thrilling to be part of the survey that has discovered the oldest known supernova. DES16C2nm is extremely distant, extremely bright, and extremely rare - not the sort of thing you stumble across every day as an astronomer,” said lead author of the study Mathew Smith, of the University of Southampton in the UK. "As well as being a very exciting discovery in its own right, the extreme distance of DES16C2nm gives us a unique insight into the nature of SLSN. The ultraviolet light from SLSN informs us of the amount of metal produced in the explosion and the temperature of the explosion itself, both of which are key to understanding what causes and drives these cosmic explosions,” added Smith.
"Finding more distant events, to determine the variety and sheer number of these events, is the next step," said Professor Mark Sullivan, also of the University of Southampton. More than 400 scientists from over 25 institutions worldwide are involved in the DES, a five-year project which began in 2013.
