Astronomers Report the Brightest, Most Distant Supernovae Ever Discovered

[n2doc]

By James A. Foley Dec 18, 2013 04:11 PM EST


Two of the brightest and most distant supernovae ever discovered are estimated to be 10 billion light years away from Earth and a hundred times more luminous than a typical supernova, according to new research that appears in the Astrophysical Journal.
When the extraordinarily distant objects were first discovered in 2006 and 2007, astronomers had no idea what they were as they did not fit into any of the typical astronomical models. This was largely due to their extreme luminosity. Typically supernovae are lit by the energy produced by the death of a giant star or normal neutron star, but these forces were unable to explain how objects so distant could appear so bright.

"At first, we had no idea what these things were, even whether they were supernovae or whether they were in our galaxy or a distant one," said D. Andrew Howell, lead study author and staff scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT). "I showed the observations at a conference, and everyone was baffled. Nobody guessed they were distant supernovae because it would have made the energies mind-bogglingly large. We thought it was impossible."

Howell and his colleagues report that one of the newfound supernovae, named SNLS-06D4eu, belongs to an emerging class of space objects called superluminous supernovae, of which it is the most distant and most luminous of all known examples.

The two superluminous supernovae detailed in the Astrophysical Journal report have been placed in a special subclass because they have no hydrogen.

more

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5355/20131218/astronomers-report-brightest-distant-supernovae-discovered.htm

[Locut0s]

1. Cool thanks. However I think they are mincing words...

When they say that these are the most distant super nova discovered yet. If the commonly accepted explanation for gamma ray bursts is correct then these are not the furthest. Gamma ray bursts are believed to be the jets produced by supermassive stars collapsing into a blackhole. When these jets happen to be pointed at us we see a gamma ray burst. But these would be super nova still and they have been detected up to 13 billion light years away.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Astronomers Discover Secrets About Ancient Supernovae

12/19/2013 @ 12:44AM |98 views
Astronomers Discover Secrets About Ancient Supernovae

In 2006 and 2007, astronomers associated with the Supernova Legacy Survey discovered two of the brightest supernovae ever seen. So big, in fact, that initially it wasn’t clear what they were or how far away they were at first.

“At first, we had no idea what these things were, even whether they were supernovae or whether they were in our galaxy or a distant one,” said scientist D. Andrew Howell in a press release.

Howell is the lead author of a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal, where he and a team of researchers were finally able to uncover more about these two mysterious supernovae.

What they discovered is that these two supernovae exploded before our Sun was even born – they’re located 10 billion light years away. In fact, they’re a type of supernova that might not be able to form anymore – “a relic of an earlier form of supernovae that is all but extinct today,” the authors wrote in the paper.

More:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/12/19/astronomers-discover-secrets-about-ancient-supernovae/