The plot thickened considerably in the late 1990s, when very
distant exploding stars were inexplicably seen to be dimmer than expected.
New measurements of light from
distant exploding stars were supposed to illuminate the dark energy that is pushing the cosmos apart.
Measurements of the bending of light, the motions of galaxies, and the brightness of
distant exploding stars have revealed a new truth: Unseen elements, collectively called dark matter and dark energy, account for roughly 96 percent of the mass of the universe.
The same can't be said about dark energy, a truly astonishing discovery made by astronomers a decade ago while observing
distant exploding stars.
Observations of
distant exploding stars, or supernovas, indicated that the space between us and them was expanding at an increasing clip.
MAUNA KEA, HI — Astronomers have for the first time spotted four images of
a distant exploding star, arranged in a cross-shape pattern by a powerful gravitational lens.
Not exact matches
A certain kind of
exploding star, called a supernova, turned out to be fainter than expected in the
distant past, indicating that the universe is ballooning at an ever - faster rate, and has been for nearly half of its 13.8 billion - year existence.
Gravity from a galaxy (box) in this Hubble Space Telescope image bends light from a more
distant supernova, creating four images of the
exploding star (arrows).
The Accelerating Universe In 1998 two teams of researchers observing
distant supernovas —
exploding stars — found that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
Comets, meteorites, planets, moons,
stars and even
exploding stars can be seen without a telescope, and hence, when they are brought closer for inspection with such an instrument as the telescope, these
distant objects are not so mysterious, just somewhat so.
Two teams, led by Saul Perlmutter of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California and Alex Filippenko of the University of California at Berkeley, observed scores of
distant «Type Ia» supernovae, in which one
star in a binary pair
explodes.
In the 1990s, observations of
exploding stars showed that more
distant explosions were dimmer than existing theories predicted.
Measurements based on
exploding stars suggest that
distant galaxies are speeding away from each other at 73 kilometers per second for each megaparsec (about 3.3 million light - years) of space between them.
Three years ago, observations of
distant,
exploding stars blew to smithereens some of astronomers» most cherished ideas about the universe.
Astronomers have spotted the most
distant object yet confirmed in the universe — a self - destructing
star that
exploded 13.1 billion light years from Earth.
The Dark Energy Survey has discovered a number of superluminous supernovae and continues to see more
distant cosmic explosions revealing how
stars exploded during the strongest period of
star formation.
«It has mapped the dust in three dimensions in our galaxy and found new streams of
stars; and it has found new kinds of
exploding stars and
distant quasars in the early universe.»
u «Three years ago, observations of
distant,
exploding stars blew to smithereens some of astronomers» most cherished ideas about the universe [the big bang theory].
Most people would probably agree that astronomy is an inspiring subject, blowing our minds with astonishing facts about
exploding stars, extrasolar planets and supermassive black holes while beguiling our eyes with awesome vistas of alien worlds and
distant galaxies.
Some of the new results included deeper understandings of galaxies in the
distant universe, more complete pictures of the massive galaxy clusters, and the searches for
exploding massive
stars, called supernovae.
Over five years, researchers will use this telescope to survey more than 300 million
distant galaxies and detect thousands of new supernovas —
exploding stars.