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Supernovas and Remnants (Illustrations)
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Illustration of Dynamics of Supernova 1987A
Long ago, the massive star that produced Supernova 1987A lost most of its outer layers in a slowly moving stellar wind that formed a vast cloud of gas. Before the star exploded, a high-speed wind from the star carved out a cavity in the cool gas cloud. The red ring in the illustration represents the inner edge of the cloud of cool gas. The fingers protruding inward were produced by the interaction of the high-speed wind with the dense circumstellar cloud. The collision of the outward-moving supernova shock wave (yellow) with the dense fingers of cool gas produce bright spots (white) of optical and X-ray emission. The expanding debris (blue) of the exploded star lags behind the shock wave and, except for a thin shell around the outer edge (gold), is too cool to produce X-rays.
(Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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Illustration of Shock Waves in Supernova Remnants
The supernova explosion of a star ejects most (Type II), and in some cases all (Type Ia), of the star into space at speeds of millions of miles per hour into the circumstellar gas. This event generates shock waves that produce shells of hot gas and high-energy particles that are observed for hundreds and thousands of years as supernova remnants. The supersonic expansion of the ejecta into the circumstellar gas generates a forward shock wave that speeds ahead of the ejecta. Like an extreme version of sonic booms produced by the supersonic motion of airplanes, the forward shock wave produces sudden, large changes in pressure and temperature behind the shock wave (purple). The hot, high pressure gas (purple) behind the forward shock expands and pushes back on the ejecta, causing a reverse shock that heats the ejecta (orange). Eventually, the reverse shock wave will traverse the cool ejecta (blue) and heat it. An observer surfing along with the front edge of the ejecta would see the reverse shock moving inward, and the forward shock moving outward. A distant observer would see both shells moving outward, at differing velocities. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss) |
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Type IA (Thermonuclear) Supernova
Type Ia supernovas are observed in all kinds of galaxies, and are produced by white dwarf stars, the condensed remnant of what used to be sun-like stars. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss) |
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