The image above shows the gravitationally lensed iPTF16geu Type Ia supernova.

(W.M. Keck Observatory)

For the first time, a team of researchers has witnessed the cosmic magnification of a Type Ia supernova, which could allow them to calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding.

and astronomers frequently use them to measure how fast the universe is spreading, as well as its amount of dark energy, according to a release on the discovery.

In a recent study, the scientists observed the supernova, named iPTF16geu, and learned. General relativity suggestsan object with a sufficient mass will bend the path of light passing it, an effect referred to as gravitational lensing. The recently discovered supernova was lensed by a foreground galaxy that split the light.

“This phenomenon was identified because the light from the stellar explosion was magnified more than 50 times by the curvature of space around matter in an intervening galaxy,” wrote the researchers. “The large magnification and symmetric image configuration imply close alignment between the lines of sight to the supernova and to the lens. The relative magnifications of the four images provide evidence for substructures in the lensing galaxy.”

“I was baffled when I saw the initial data for iPTF16geu from the Palomar Observatory,” co-author Mansi Kasliwal said in the release. “It looked like a normal Type Ia supernova but it was much brighter than it should have been given its distance from us. The rapid follow up with more powerful facilities confirmed that we had stumbled upon an extremely interesting and rare event.”

Currently, the researchers are attempting to use each of the four images captured to measure how long it took light from the supernova to reach Earth, which will allow them to try , according to the Hubble Space Telescope’s website.

The radiant supernova has already yielded new results for the researchers. Using data from the W.M. Keck Observatory and the Hubble, they discovered the lensing matter in the galaxy that is magnifying iPTF16geu has a mass up to 10 billion times that of the sun, according to the release. It also has a radius of almost 3,000 light-years, which makes it relatively small compared to other lensing objects.

Studies of lensed objects like this give astronomers a new perspective of gravitational lensing,which may help redefine what is known about the factors contributing to lensing, such as dark matter and Einstein's general theory of relativity,the release stated.

“The discovery of iPTF16geu is truly like finding a somewhat weird needle in a haystack,” co-author Rahman Amanullah said in the release. “It reveals to us a bit more about the universe, but mostly triggers a wealth of new scientific questions. That's why I love science and astronomy.”