The Chandra X-ray Observatory has imaged the hot, bubble-like remains of what may be the brightest supernova ever seen from Earth – an explosion observed nearly 1000 years ago.
In April 1006 AD, observers from Europe to Japan reported the supernova as an extremely bright "new" star in the constellation Lupus. But it was not until the 1960s that radio astronomers found the expanding remnant from the explosion, which occurred within our galaxy and just 7000 light years from Earth.
Now, researchers have released a Chandra image of the glowing remnant taken over the course of 61 hours in 2003.
The explosion was probably caused by a white dwarf, the burned-out ember of a star like the Sun, which was siphoning material from a nearby companion. When it had consumed so much that it could no longer support its own weight, it exploded, sending a shock wave into its surroundings.
The magnetic fields in this wave accelerated charged particles nearby to nearly the speed of light, producing the X-rays (blue) in the upper left and lower right of the image. Why the particles were accelerated so unevenly around the remnant is not clear, but they may have been aligned that way by magnetic fields weaving through interstellar space.
The shock wave also created pressure behind it as material from the explosion slammed into it. As a result, a reverse shock wave formed, heating gas and dust to millions of degrees (red). Spectra of this gas show it is rich in oxygen and other elements produced during the supernova itself.
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17:45 21 August 2008
11:17 21 August 2008
