Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Supernova Multiply Imaged by Galaxy Cluster

This animation illustrates how the powerful gravity of a massive galaxy cluster bends and focuses the light from a supernova behind it, resulting in multiple images of the exploding star. If the cluster were not present, astronomers would detect only the supernova light that is directed straight at Earth and would see only a single image of the supernova. In the case of the multiply imaged supernova, however, the light paths are bent by the cluster's gravity and redirected onto new paths, several of which are pointed at Earth. Astronomers, therefore, see multiple images of the exploding star, each one corresponding to one of those altered light paths. Each image takes a different route through the cluster and arrives at a different time, due, in part, to differences in the length of the pathways the light follows to reach Earth.
  • Release Date
    March 5, 2015
  • Science Release
    Hubble Sees Supernova Split into Four Images by Cosmic Lens
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and A. Feild (STScI); and S. Rodney (JHU) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (UCLA), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; and M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team

Downloads

  • 640 × 360, 30 FPS
    mp4 (676.14 KB)
  • 1920 × 1080, 30 FPS
    mp4 (2.31 MB)
  • 1280 × 720, 30 FPS
    mp4 (1.43 MB)

Related Images & Videos

Supernova Refsdal and Galaxy Cluster MACS J1149.6+2223

Supernova Refsdal and Galaxy Cluster MACS J1149.6+2223

The powerful gravity of a galaxy embedded in a massive cluster of galaxies in this Hubble Space Telescope image is producing multiple images of a single distant supernova far behind it. Both the galaxy and the galaxy cluster are acting like a giant cosmic lens, bending and...

Galaxy Cluster MACS J1149.6+2223 and Supernova Refsdal

Galaxy Cluster MACS J1149.6+2223 and Supernova Refsdal

Supernova Refsdal (Multiply Imaged and Gravitationally Lensed by Galaxy Cluster)

Supernova Refsdal (Multiply Imaged and Gravitationally Lensed by Galaxy Cluster)

Hubble Sees Distant Supernova Multiply Imaged by Foreground Galaxy Cluster

Hubble Sees Distant Supernova Multiply Imaged by Foreground Galaxy Cluster

These illustrations show how the powerful gravity of a massive galaxy cluster bends and focuses the light from a supernova behind it, resulting in multiple images of the exploding star. This phenomenon is called gravitational lensing, and astronomers use it to search for distant...

Compass and Scale Image for SN Refsdal and MACS J1149.6+2223

Compass and Scale Image for SN Refsdal and MACS J1149.6+2223

The powerful gravity of a massive cluster of galaxies in this Hubble Space Telescope image is producing multiple images of a single distant supernova behind it. The foreground cluster is acting like a giant cosmic lens, bending and magnifying light from the exploding star in an...

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble Science Highlights

Hubble Images

Hubble News