Superbright star explosion is most distant known

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

A simulation of a galaxy hosting a superluminous supernova (Image: Adrian Malec and Marie Martig, Swinburne University)

A newly spotted ultra-bright star explosion burst onto the scene just 1.5 billion years after the big bang, making it the earliest known supernova.

The event is one of two supernovae recently found in the distant universe. The other occurred a mere 3 billion years after the birth of the cosmos. Both explosions are so-called superluminous supernovae, a type of stellar burst that outshines other supernovae by a factor of 10 to 100.

The phenomenon was discovered only a few years ago. Astronomers think such supernovae can be triggered in some very massive stars when high temperatures and pressures in the star's core cause photons to convert to pairs of electrons and positrons. The core then loses pressure and contracts, becoming more than 250 times hotter than the sun's core. This triggers a partial collapse, followed by an intense thermonuclear explosion.

The two new supernovae were found using image processing and analysis techniques designed to peer back to the dawn of stellar existence. The hope is that, with their extreme brightness, superluminous supernovae could let astronomers witness the deaths of the very first generation of stars, which began seeding the universe with the heavier elements needed to build more stars, galaxies, planets and eventually life.

Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11521

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