The JWST Just Found the Oldest Supernova Ever Seen!
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) just captured the earliest-known supernova — and it all started with SVOM!
Exosens is proud to have Photonis Micro-Pore Optics (MPOs) aboard the SVOM (Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor).
Here’s how SVOM captured the earliest-known supernova:
- Detection: SVOM first spotted the initial gamma-ray burst (GRB 250314A) on March 14, signaling a rare cosmic event.
- Alert: It triggered a rapid response from the global astronomical community, with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory pinpointing its location, the Nordic Optical Telescope suggesting it was incredibly distant, and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile determining its high redshift and age.
- Timing: Because the exploding star was so ancient, its light was stretched by cosmic expansion, SVOM’s GRB light curve guided JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) to observe at the perfect moment, when the supernova’s light was expected to peak.
- Discovery: JWST then revealed the earliest supernova ever seen and its host galaxy.
Photonis’s Micro Pore Optics are a key technological component of the SVOM mission. They focus faint X-ray signals onto a detector, enabling detection of these fleeting events and unlocking the secrets of the early universe.
Click this link to learn more about the SVOM mission.
About Photonis
Photonis is a leading product brand of Exosens, a high-tech company with more than 85 years of experience in the innovation, development, manufacture, and sale of high-end electro-optical technologies. Photonis offers photo-detection and low-light-conditions imaging solutions for extremely demanding environments. Applications for the company’s products include Defense & Security, Nuclear Safety, Life Sciences & Environment, and Industrial Control & Non-Destructive Testing. The Photonis brand is internationally recognized as a major innovator in its fields with production and R&D sites in Europe and North America.
To request more information or a quotation for Photonis products, contact IL Photonics.