A glimpse of ancient dying stars

[Rick]

Astronomers have revealed faint images of the two oldest and most distant supernovae to be discovered to date.

When a massive star effectively runs out of nuclear fuel, it explodes in a supernova - hurling much of its material into space.

The scientists described in the journal Nature how they gathered images of the exploding stars by monitoring the same galaxies over five years.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8141395.stm

[Rick]

Astronomers from the University of California have spied a supernova which lit up the early universe 10.7 billion years ago - 1.5 billion years before the previous record holder and just 3 billions years after the big bang.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/09/oldest_supernova/