Overview
- The explosion, designated SN in GRB 250314A, occurred when the universe was about 730 million years old, setting a new distance record for a supernova.
- SVOM detected the long-duration gamma-ray burst on March 14, 2025, and ESO’s Very Large Telescope measured a redshift of roughly 7.3.
- About 110 days after the burst, JWST’s NIRCam isolated the transient’s light from its extremely faint host galaxy, enabling the identification of the supernova.
- Observations show brightness and spectral behavior similar to the local prototype SN 1998bw, ruling out a superluminous supernova.
- The team plans a second JWST epoch in one to two years to confirm the transient’s contribution and to characterize the host galaxy in detail.