James Webb Telescope Discovers 13 Billion-Year-Old Supernova

The James Webb Space Telescope, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, has made a groundbreaking discovery by spotting a supernova that occurred 13 billion years ago, when the universe was only 730 million years old.

This gamma-ray burst, detected as a tiny red smudge, marks the oldest supernova recorded, surpassing the previous record holder by over a billion years. Co-author Andrew Levan emphasized the significance of this observation, stating it demonstrates Webb's capability to locate individual stars from the early universe, which represents only five percent of its current age.

The detection involved a coordinated effort: NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory first identified the X-ray source, followed by observations from the Nordic Optical Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, all completed within a remarkable 17 hours.

The findings revealed that the characteristics of this ancient supernova closely resemble those of modern supernovae, contrary to expectations that early stars would have been more massive with shorter lifespans and fewer heavy elements.

This exciting discovery is set to enhance our understanding of stellar evolution and the formation of galaxies, with researchers planning further investigations using Webb to study more gamma-ray bursts from the early universe.