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James Webb Space Telescope finds supernova 'Hope' that could finally resolve major astronomy debate

"The supernova was named 'supernova Hope' since it gives astronomers hope to better understand the universe’s changing expansion rate."

Gravitationally lensed supernovas in the early cosmos the JWST is observing could provide a third way of measuring the rate, potentially helping resolve this "Hubble trouble." This investigation of supernova Hope began when Frye and her global team of scientists found three curious points of light in a JWST image of a distant, densely packed cluster of galaxies. "A different team member made another time delay measurement by analyzing the evolution of its light dispersed into its constituent colors or 'spectrum' from the JWST, confirming the Type Ia nature of supernova Hope," Frye said.

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