Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
G350.1-0.3: Remnant of an Explosion With a Powerful Kick?
G350.1-0.3
G350.1-0.3

  • G350.1-0.3 is a young and exceptionally bright supernova remnant about 15,000 light years from Earth.

  • Its unusual shape suggests that the debris from the supernova explosion is expanding into a nearby cloud of cold gas.

  • Astronomers think the star that created G350.1-0.3 exploded between 600 and 1,200 years ago.

Vital clues about the devastating ends to the lives of massive stars can be found by studying the aftermath of their explosions. In its more than twelve years of science operations, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has studied many of these supernova remnants sprinkled across the Galaxy.

The latest example of this important investigation is Chandra's new image of the supernova remnant known as G350.1-0.3. This stellar debris field is located some 14,700 light years from the Earth toward the center of the Milky Way .

Evidence from Chandra and from ESA's XMM-Newton telescope suggest that a compact object within G350.1-0.3 may be the dense core of the star that exploded. The position of this likely neutron star, seen by mousing over the image above, is well away from the center of the X-ray emission (mouse-over for this position). If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a powerful kick in the supernova explosion.

Data from Chandra and other telescopes suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is between 600 and 1,200 years old. If the estimated location of the explosion is correct, this means that the neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour since the explosion This is comparable to the exceptionally high speed derived for the neutron star in Puppis A and provides new evidence that extremely powerful "kicks" can be imparted to neutron stars from supernova explosions.

Another intriguing aspect of G350.1-0.3 is its unusual shape. While many supernova remnants are nearly circular, G350.1-0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen in the Chandra data in this image (gold). Infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (light blue) also trace the morphology found by Chandra. Astronomers think that this bizarre shape is due to the stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas.

The age of 600-1,200 years puts the explosion that created G350.1-0.3 in the same time frame as other famous supernovas that formed the Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants. However, it is unlikely that anyone on Earth would have seen the explosion because of the obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant.

These results appeared in the April 10, 2011 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The scientists on this paper were Igor Lovchinsky and Patrick Slane (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Bryan Gaensler (University of Sydney, Australia), Jack Hughes (Rutgers University), Stephen Ng (McGill University), Jasmina Lazendic (Monash University Clayton, Australia), Joseph Gelfand (New York University, Abu Dhabi), and Crystal Brogan (National Radio Astronomy Observatory).

Fast Facts for G350.1-0.3:
Credit  X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I.Lovchinsky et al, IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date  February 1, 2012
Scale  5.2 arcmin across (about 22 light years)
Category  Supernovas & Supernova Remnants, Neutron Stars/X-ray Binaries
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 17h 21m 03.00s | Dec -37° 26´ 50.00"
Constellation  Scorpius
Observation Date  24 May 2009
Observation Time  23 hours 3 min
Obs. ID  10102
Instrument  ACIS
References Lovchinsky, I. et al, 2011, ApJ, 731, 70
Color Code  X-ray (Gold); Infrared 24 micron (Cyan); Infrared 8 micron (Purple); Infrared 3.6 micron (Green)
IR
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 14,700 light years
distance arrow
Visitor Comments (4)

That is a tremendous speed for the star to atain from the explosion. How does this blast effect the star (besides it attaining a very high speed)? If it does have planets in orbit how would this effect them?

Is the speed given the star instinanious or is it gradual?

A most interesting article.

Thanks, Marvin L. S.

Posted by Marvin L. S. on Saturday, 02.25.12 @ 19:18pm


Dear Roger,
The bullet point "Astronomers think the star that created G350.1-0.3 exploded between 600 and 1,200 years ago" is a shortening of the fuller point made below: "Data from Chandra and other telescopes suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is between 600 and 1,200 years old." Light from this remnant indeed takes about 15,000 years to reach us, but if we'd been observing with sensitive instruments (especially ones that detect neutrinos) between 600 and 1,200 years ago we would have seen evidence for the supernova explosion.
-P.Edmonds, CXC

Posted by P. Edmonds on Tuesday, 02.14.12 @ 10:14am


In the description of the supernova G350.1-0.3 which is stated to be 15000 light years away it would not be possible to see it if it only went supernova 600 -1200 years ago.
Please comment.
Thanks
roger

Posted by Roger Heim on Wednesday, 02.8.12 @ 22:06pm


If the star is 14,700 light years away, how is it possible to see the results of an event that occured only 600 - 1200 years ago?

Posted by SkipO on Tuesday, 02.7.12 @ 08:03am


Rate This Image

Rating: 3.8/5
(458 votes cast)
Download & Share

Desktops

1024x768 - 375.8 kb
1280x1024 - 551.5 kb
1680x1050 - 695.6 kb
More Information
For Kids: G350.1-0.3
Blog: G350.1-0.3

More Images
X-ray Image of
G350.1-0.3
Jpg, Tif
X-ray

More Images
Animation & Video
Tour of G350.1-0.3
animation

More Animations
Related Images
RCW 86
RCW 86
(26 Oct 11)

G299.2-2.9
G299.2-2.9
(12 Oct 11)

G54.1+0.3
G54.1+0.3
(29 Mar 10)

Related Information
Related Podcast
Top Rated Images
Brightest Cluster Galaxies

30 Doradus B

SDSS J1531+3414




FaceBookTwitterYouTubeFlickr