Exploding stars generate dramatic light shows. Infrared telescopes like Spitzer can see through the haze and to give a better idea of how often these explosions occur.
You'd think that
supernovae—the death throes of massive stars and among the brightest, most powerful explosions in the universe—would be hard to miss. Yet the number of these blasts observed in the distant parts of the universe falls way short of astrophysicists' predictions.
A new study using data from NASA's recently retired Spitzer Space Telescope reports the detection of five supernovae, that going undetected in optical light, had never been seen before. Spitzer saw the universe in infrared light, which pierces through dust clouds that block optical light—the kind of light our eyes see and that unobscured supernovae radiate most brightly.
