Astronomers have observed the same supernova three times and predicted a fourth encounter

The strong gravity that comes from a cluster of galaxies causes space to bend so much that

that the light from them bends and reaches the Earth inseveral directions. In science, this effect is also known as gravitational lensing. It helps scientists study exoplanets and has now allowed astronomers at the University of Copenhagen to observe the same supernova, SN-Requiem, in three different places in the sky.

Credit: Peter Laursen

Scientists obtained images of the supernova with the help ofHubble telescope. SN-Requiem exploded about 10 billion years ago, long before the Sun was formed. “The flash of light from this explosion had just reached us,” explains Associate Professor Gabriel Brammer, who led the study.

Credit: Peter Laursen

Danish scientists also predicted that in 16years - by 2037 - a fourth image of the same explosion will appear in the sky. In their work, they studied how galaxies are distributed in clusters and how images of different objects are distorted by curved space. This helped them calculate how much light from objects is “delayed.” The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

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