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 100 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.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, DC. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.
The X-ray image of the supernova remnant Puppis A displays a vibrant and intricate cosmic structure. The center of the image is dominated by a large, irregularly shaped object, which appears to be made up of several smaller, interconnected pieces. The color palette of the image is predominantly blue and pale gold, with occasional flashes of dark orange and light green. The overall shape of the remnant resembles that of a right-hand punching glove with the fist striking out towards the viewer's perspective. The remnant floats on a solid black background. The image shows the remains of a star that exploded and that would have been witnessed on Earth about 3,700 years ago. This image provides the most complete and detailed X-ray view of Puppis A ever obtained at the time, made by combining a mosaic of different Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton observations. Low-energy X-rays are colored 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.
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