Unprecedented X-ray View of Supernova Remains
The destructive results of a powerful supernova explosion reveal themselves
in a delicate tapestry of X-ray light, as seen in this image from NASA’s Chandra
X-Ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton.
The image shows the remains of a supernova that would have been witnessed on
Earth about 3,700 years ago. The remnant is called Puppis A, and is around 7,000
light years away and about 10 light years across. This image provides the most
complete and detailed X-ray view of Puppis A ever obtained, made by combining a
mosaic of different Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. Low-energy X-rays are
shown in red, medium-energy X-rays are in green and high energy X-rays are
colored blue.
These observations act as a probe of the gas surrounding Puppis A, known as
the interstellar medium. The complex appearance of the remnant shows that Puppis
A is expanding into an interstellar medium that probably has a knotty
structure.
Supernova explosions forge the heavy elements that can provide the raw
material from which future generations of stars and planets will form. Studying
how supernova remnants expand into the galaxy and interact with other material
provides critical clues into our own origins.
A paper describing these results was published in the July 2013 issue of
Astronomy and Astrophysics and is available online. The first author is Gloria
Dubner from the Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio in Buenos Aires in
Argentina.
Image credit: NASA/CXC/IAFE/G.Dubner et al & ESA/XMM-Newton
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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