Supernovas & Supernova Remnants

A new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a supernova remnant with a different look. This object, known as SNR 0104-72.3 (SNR 0104 for short), is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way. Astronomers think that SNR 0104 is the remains of a so-called Type Ia supernova caused by the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf.

A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for this beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. At the center of this image made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand.

This composite image of the Tycho supernova remnant combines X-ray and infrared observations obtained with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope, respectively, and the Calar Alto observatory, Spain. It shows the scene more than four centuries after the brilliant star explosion witnessed by Tycho Brahe and other astronomers of that era.

Crab Nebula: A supernova remnant and pulsar located 6000 light years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. More at https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/crab/

With the press release for G1.9+0.3 we talked about when an event in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy occurred. One delicate issue that immediately came to mind was what to do about the light travel time to this object. We decided to adopt the astronomer's convention and talk about events in Earth's time frame, that is when the light reached the Earth, as we noted in the press release and in a few other places on our web-site.

Dr. Carles Badenes is a Chandra postdoctoral fellow at Princeton, having spent the previous few years at Rutgers University. His main research focus is on supernova explosions and supernova remnants, particularly the class known as Type Ia.
------------------------

Dr. Patrick Slane from the Chandra X-ray Center recently shared some information on the G292.0+1.8 supernova remnant with NASA's museum alliance. Part II of this conversation talks more on what we're seeing in the Chandra image....

The aftermath of the death of a massive star is shown in beautiful detail in this new composite image of G292.0+1.8. In color is the Chandra X-ray Observatory image - easily the deepest X-ray image ever obtained of this supernova remnant - and in white is optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey. Although considered a "textbook" case of a supernova remnant, the intricate structure shown here reveals a few surprises.

Dr. Patrick Slane from the Chandra X-ray Center recently shared some information on the G292.0+1.8 supernova remnant with NASA's museum alliance. We think you'll find it useful too:
--------------------------------