James Webb might have spotted its first supernova

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Web Desk
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In this NASA handout image NASA Administrator Bill Nelson describes the first full-colour image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the highest-resolution image of the infrared universe in history, during a preview event with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 11, 2022. —AFP
In this NASA handout image NASA Administrator Bill Nelson describes the first full-colour image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the highest-resolution image of the infrared universe in history, during a preview event with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 11, 2022. —AFP 

James Webb Space Telescope might have captured its first image of a supernova. 

According to a report, the team behind JWST thinks it has found an infrared transient in the galaxy SDSS J141930.11+525159.3.

The team believes so because of the object's intensity of brightness. It is brighter than the rest of the galaxy. Five days after the initial observation, the object had slightly dimmed, which scientists say is how a supernova behaves.

However, it is nearly impossible to be sure whether it was a supernova yet. The space telescope team needs more time.

A supernova occurs when a star dies resulting in a very bright ball of fire.

The galaxy recently spotted by the machine is between three to four billion light years away. Therefore, if this is a supernova, it happened over three billion years ago. 

These images show the galaxy where James Webb possibly spotted a supernova and an image of the same galaxy captured by Hubble.— Space Telescope Science Institute
These images show the galaxy where James Webb possibly spotted a supernova and an image of the same galaxy captured by Hubble.— Space Telescope Science Institute

While the new series of images that James Webb released are incredible, they are not as remarkable as the ones released earlier. 

Originally, the telescope was built to detect water and other signs of life on distant planets. The images of different events that occur in the space are exciting by-products.

Despite being slightly damaged, JWST has not disappointed people with all the images it has captured.