NASA · Space

Hubble Telescope Marks 200,000 Orbits, Aids Supernova Search

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth, coinciding with its participation in a project to monitor a specific supernova.

Hubble captured an image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0417, which acts as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying light from objects behind it.

This observation is part of repeated monitoring for the reappearance of supernova Athena, discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2025.

Supernova Athena is predicted to reappear between now and early March 2027.

Measuring the timing of Athena's reappearances will help map the mass of MACS J0417 and refine the measurement of the universe's expansion rate.

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