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Hubble is revisiting the galaxy cluster MACS J0417 to watch for another appearance of supernova Athena. NASA’s September 23 report describes an image taken during the telescope’s 200,000th orbit, on September 19. The goal is to catch light from a stellar explosion that has already been seen by another route.
Sources: NASA
The foreground cluster bends and magnifies light from objects behind it. Light from the same supernova can follow several paths toward Earth, with different travel times. That lets one explosion appear more than once, separated by months or years. Comparing those arrival times can help researchers map the cluster’s mass and study the universe’s expansion.
Sources: NASA
NASA says Webb discovered Athena in 2025 and predicts another appearance between the September 23 announcement and early March 2027. That is a forecast window, not a report that Hubble has caught the next appearance. The repeated observations are looking for that change.
Sources: NASA
Open the linked NASA image and look just left of centre for MACS J0417. The cluster’s position helps explain the geometry: it is the foreground lens, while the monitored explosion is farther away. The frame is also a useful reminder that repeated images can reveal information a single exposure cannot, because the timing is part of the measurement.
Sources: NASA
Sources
- NASA
Primary source · Published 2026-09-23 · Retrieved 2026-09-23