Supernova 1997ap
False-color images from observations by the Supernova Cosmology Project of one of the two most distant spectroscopically confirmed supernova. From the left: the first two images, from the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory 4-meter telescope, show a small region of sky just before and just after the the appearance of a type-Ia supernova that exploded when the universe was about half its present age. The third image shows the same supernova as observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. This much sharper picture allows a much better measurement of the apparent brightness and hence the distance of this supernova. Because their intrinsic brightness is predictable, such supernovae help to determine the deceleration, and so the eventual fate, of the universe.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA caption
| Id: | opo9802h |
| Type: | Collage |
| Release date: | 8 January 1998, 06:00 |
| Size: | 1500 x 1052 px |
About the Object
| Name: | SN 1997AP |
| Type: | • Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova • Stars Images/Videos |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical R |
675 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Infrared I |
814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
Notes: The left and middle images was captured by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory's 4-metre telescope.
