Hubble Spies Most Distant Supernova
387401 01: The Hubble Space Telescope has spied the most distant supernova ever, an 11 billion year old exploding star whose existence suggests that a repulsive “dark energy” is spurring the expansion of the universe. Astronomers saw the supernova in 1997 but did not know until recently that it was the furthest and therefore the oldest of its kind ever observed, scientists said April 2, 2001 in a briefing at NASA headquarters. The photo at bottom left is a close-up view of that region where the supernova dwells. The white arrow points to the exploding star’s home galaxy, a faint elliptical. Its redness is due to the billions of old stars residing there. The picture at bottom right shows the supernova itself, distinguished by the white dot in the center. (Photo courtesy of NASA/Newsmakers)