Discovery of "monster bomb" that shook the universe

(NLDO) - The James Webb Space Telescope has just set a new record with an extremely terrifying object from the early universe.

James Webb - the world's most powerful space telescope developed and operated by NASA - has just recorded the largest and most distant supernova, marking the death of a "stellar monster" from the early universe.

The supernova, discovered as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), occurred 11.4 billion years ago, when the universe was just 2.4 billion years old, inside a giant early galaxy.

Graphic depicting the "space bomb" AT 2023adsv (left) with real images taken in 2022 and 2023 - Photo: NASA/ESA/CSA/SPACE.COM

Dubbed AT 2023adsv, this ancient “bomb” was far more powerful than anything we observe today or in the recent past. It has been described as “cosmically shocking.”

The explosion's power is estimated to be twice that of the average stellar explosion we observe in closer space.

Astronomers call AT 2023adsv's parent object a "stellar monster" because it is a supergiant star, 20 times more massive than our Sun.

"The first stars were significantly different from today's stars. They were huge, hot and caused huge explosions," Live Science quoted researcher David Coulter from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScl - USA), a member of the JADES team.

The universe began with a fairly simple chemical composition , consisting only of light elements such as hydrogen and helium.

The first generation of stars , known as Population III stars , were born from overly dense clusters that began fusing hydrogen and helium into heavier elements inside their cores.

At the end of their lives, these stars explode and release these heavier metals into space, in supernova explosions.

The next generation of stars - Population II - formed with slightly richer materials thanks to the addition of metals forged in their cores by Population III.

They continued to synthesize heavier elements, which they released at the end of their lives through supernovae. Thus, successive generations of stars helped make the periodic table as long as it is today.

But even though the lifespans of stellar generations are similar, early supernovae appear to be the most energetic, in part due to the metal-poor nature of the first stars .

That's why the "space bomb" AT 2023adsv, despite being billions of light years away, is still very bright in James Webb data.

According to researchers, this discovery has opened a new door for humanity to learn about early generations of stars, through their explosive deaths.

The calculation that AT 2023adsv's parent body is a star 20 times more massive than the Sun is an example. Such "stellar monsters" are rare today.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/phat-hien-qua-bom-quai-vat-lam-rung-chuyen-vu-tru-196250119091028373.htm