Abstract
OBSERVATIONS indicate that nearby supernova of type Ia have similar peak brightnesses, with a spread of less than 0.3 mag (ref. 1), so that they can potentially be used as 'standard candles' to estimate distances on a cosmological scale. As part of a long-term search for distant supernovae, we have identified and studied an event that occurred in a faint member of the distant galaxy cluster AC118, at a redshift of z =0.31. Extensive photometry and some spectroscopy of the event strongly supports the hypothesis that we have detected a type Ia supernova whose time-dilated light curve matches that of present-day supernovae of this class. We discuss the precision to which its maximum brightness can be ascertained, and indicate the implications that such deep supernovae searches may have for observational cosmology.
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Nørgaard-Nielsen, H., Hansen, L., Jørgensen, H. et al. The discovery of a type Ia supernova at a redshift of 0.31. Nature 339, 523–525 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339523a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339523a0
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