A warp in space-time just gave us four views of one exploding star
Astronomers catch a galaxy magnifying and splitting the light from a supernova
By Sarah Fecht
Although the night sky often seems so peaceful and still, a closer look reveals constant movement and change. The Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) in California looks for ephemeral phenomena in the heavens, like stars that fluctuate in brightness, or planets passing in front of their stars.