Supernova 1997ap
False-color images from observations by the Supernova Cosmology Project of one of the two most distant spectroscopically confirmed supernova. From the left: the first two images, from the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory 4-meter telescope, show a small region of sky just before and just after the the appearance of a type-Ia supernova that exploded when the universe was about half its present age. The third image shows the same supernova as observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. This much sharper picture allows a much better measurement of the apparent brightness and hence the distance of this supernova. Because their intrinsic brightness is predictable, such supernovae help to determine the deceleration, and so the eventual fate, of the universe.
Credit:About the Image
About the Object
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical R | 675 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Notes: The left and middle images was captured by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory's 4-metre telescope.