New Type Ia supernova discovered

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) have discovered a new supernova. The newly discovered stellar explosion, designated SN 2023adsy, is the most distant Type Ia supernova detected to date. The finding was detailed in a research paper published on the pre-print server on June 7 arXiv.

Supernovae (SNe) are powerful and luminous stellar explosions. They are important to the scientific community because they provide essential clues to the evolution of stars and galaxies. In general, SNe are divided into two groups based on their atomic spectra: Type I (no hydrogen in their spectra) and Type II (with hydrogen spectral lines).

Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) are found in binary systems in which one of the stars is a white dwarf. These types of stellar explosions are important to the scientific community because they provide vital clues to the evolution of stars and galaxies.

SN 2023adsy was initially identified in 2023 as a transient object in the galaxy JADES-GS+53.13485−27.82088, at a redshift of 2.9. Follow-up observations of SN 2023adsy suggested it may have been a Type Ia supernova.

Now a new study, conducted by a team of astronomers led by Justin R. Pierel of STScI, confirms the previous assumptions.

“We have presented JWST observations of an SN (SN 2023adsy) with a spectroscopic redshift of z = 2.903 ± 0.007, which we classify using both the spectrum and light curve information as the most distant SN Ia identified to date has been discovered,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

The resulting images show that SN 2023adsy is very red, which may be due to significant dust attenuation from the host galaxy JADES-GS+53.13485−27.82088. However, this galaxy has relatively low mass, low metallicity, and low extinction, suggesting that SN 2023adsy could be intrinsically red.

The study found that SN 2023adsy exhibits strong ionized calcium (Ca II) spectral lines in its spectrum, with a measured speed of approximately 19,000 km/s. This is a relatively high rate compared to the general population of known SNe Ia.

The astronomers emphasize that while these peculiarities of SN 2023adsy are also observable in some calcium-rich Type Ia supernovae, the newly discovered SN is intrinsically brighter than the entire population of calcium-rich low-redshift SNe Ia.

Summarizing the results, the authors of the paper note that more observations of Type Ia supernovae are needed to find out whether SN 2023adsy, due to its peculiarities, is an outlier among the population of SNe Ia, or the distribution of properties of SNe Ia. these supernovae vary considerably with redshift due to changes in progenitor cells or their environment.

“A larger sample of distant SNe Ia is needed to determine whether the characteristics of the SN Ia population at high z truly diverge from their counterparts at low z, and to confirm that standardized luminosities nevertheless remain constant at redshift,” the authors conclude. scientists.

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