Title:

The discovery story of lensed supernova Zwicky

Speaker: Ana Sagués Carracedo & Nikki Arendse
Date: 2023-02-03

Abstract:

On August the first, 2022, the supernova team in Stockholm made an exciting discovery. With the Zwicky Transient Facility, we observed a supernova which was gravitationally lensed by a massive galaxy, resulting in four images of the same object. The supernova was baptised ‘SN Zwicky’ and at the time of release, it was the fourth ever observed multiply imaged supernova. Gravitationally lensed supernovae are incredibly rare and powerful: they can reveal more about high-redshift supernova physics, substructures in massive galaxies, and the expansion of the Universe. After the initial discovery of SN Zwicky, a thrilling time followed in which we coordinated some of the best telescopes in the world to fill in the missing puzzle pieces. As two of the team members, we will share the discovery story and new insights from SN Zwicky in Friday’s Scientific Fika.