Hubble Images and Videos: NASA Predicts Supernova Blast in 2037, Albert Einstein's Theory Explained

NASA just teased one of the biggest breakthroughs in space discovery. A supernova blast, dubbed Supernova Requiem, might appear sometime in 2037. However, the celestial event would be a rerun of an already-exploded star first discovered in 2016.

Scientists from NASA might be researching something similar to time travel. The recent space prediction is linked directly to Albert Einstein's theory of space and time.

To emphasize, NASA predicts a fourth preview of the same supernova exploding in the distant skies. Images of the same supernova were already recorded in 2016 but disappeared in 2019.

NASA Hubble Space Telescope Spotted the Same Supernova Blast in 2016

NASA's official blogpost explained that Supernova Requiem happened inside the galaxy cluster MACS J0138. The cluster was so massive that its powerful gravity bends and magnifies the light from the supernova.

As seen on this image, the small red dots and stars appear in 2016 (inside the circle markers). However, these stars already disappeared in 2019.

They could possibly make their next appearance in the year 2037.

University of South Carolina lead researcher Steve Rodney analogized the event. He said the supernova's explosion and light paths resemble many different trains leaving the station simultaneously. These trains travel at the same speed, and they are bound for the same location. However, each train takes a different track and a different route and some routes are longer than others. Because of this, the trains do not arrive at the same destination at the same time.

The 2037 event is years later than the previous images because it travels directly through the middle of the galaxy cluster, where the "densest amount of dark matter resides."

"This is the last one to arrive because it's like the train that has to go deep down into a valley and climb back out again. That's the slowest kind of trip for light," Rodney said, per NASA.

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NASA Hubble Tweets Plans for 2037

To better picture the event, NASA also posted a brief GIF explaining the phenomenon. The tweet description said, "A supernova "replay" is expected to appear in about 16 years, thanks to the magnification and splitting of light caused by the gravity from an enormous galaxy cluster that lies between us and the faraway supernova."

Scientists and space researchers are excited about the celestial event. They hope to learn more about dark matter, time travel, and other similar factors. For reference, the Hubble images captured from galaxy cluster MACS J0138.0-2155 were four billion light years away. The Supernova Requiem is estimated at 10 billion light years away.

It really opens up the topic of time travel, especially for sky watching.

Even more, supernovas might be captured in the next 20 years. Projects like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Vera C. Rubin Observatory should boost space research further with its new technologies. NASA researchers also pinned their hopes on the James Webb Space Telescope, which could launch soon.