Purdue University researchers are behind a new photo of a supernova included in First Lady Jill Biden’s Advent calendar.
The photo features remnants from a celestial explosion that took place over 10,000 years ago.
Researchers at Purdue helped utilize NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to photograph the explosion. Light from the exploded star first reached Earth just over 300 years ago.
Danny Milisavljevic is a Purdue professor whose data contributed to the image.
“It really blows me away to know that our image is currently hanging in the East Room of the White House,” he said.
Milisavljevic said the photo is the best look at a supernova explosion to date.
The explosion will create the building blocks for new stars – and potentially new life.
“As somebody looks at the image, I hope they understand there is this rich science that is directly relevant to us as a human species and our place in the universe,” he said.
Milisavljevic said he was recently naturalized as a U.S. citizen and is proud to have his photo represented by the White House.