Superb remnant of a star
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High estimate
(NASA. LARGE FORMAT. DEEP SPACE. MAGELLAN CLOUD) Superb remnant of a star that exploded in a nearby galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. The galaxy is about 190,000 light years from Earth. So we see the remnant as it was about 190,000 years ago, about a thousand years after the explosion.
The star exploded at a speed greater than 20 million kilometers per hour (12 million mph) and collided with the surrounding gas. This collision produced two shock waves, or cosmic sonic booms, one propagating outward and the other bouncing back into the material ejected by the explosion.
The radio image was made with the compact array of the Australian telescope. The radio waves are due to very high energy electrons spiraling around the magnetic field lines in the gas and tracing the outward moving shock wave.
The NASA telescope X-ray image, shown in blue, shows the gas that has been heated to millions of degrees Celsius by the bouncing, or inverted, shock wave. X-ray data show that this gas is rich in oxygen and neon. These elements were created by nuclear reactions inside the star and thrown into space by the supernova.
The Hubble Space Telescope optical image shows dense clumps of oxygen gas that have "cooled" to about 30,000 degrees Celsius.
Images like these, taken with different types of telescopes, give astronomers a much more complete picture of supernova explosions. They can map how the elements necessary for life are dispersed, and measure the energy of the material as it expands through the galaxy. 2000.Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering on the front. Caption on back label. 40,6 x 40,6cm with margins.
The star exploded at a speed greater than 20 million kilometers per hour (12 million mph) and collided with the surrounding gas. This collision produced two shock waves, or cosmic sonic booms, one propagating outward and the other bouncing back into the material ejected by the explosion.
The radio image was made with the compact array of the Australian telescope. The radio waves are due to very high energy electrons spiraling around the magnetic field lines in the gas and tracing the outward moving shock wave.
The NASA telescope X-ray image, shown in blue, shows the gas that has been heated to millions of degrees Celsius by the bouncing, or inverted, shock wave. X-ray data show that this gas is rich in oxygen and neon. These elements were created by nuclear reactions inside the star and thrown into space by the supernova.
The Hubble Space Telescope optical image shows dense clumps of oxygen gas that have "cooled" to about 30,000 degrees Celsius.
Images like these, taken with different types of telescopes, give astronomers a much more complete picture of supernova explosions. They can map how the elements necessary for life are dispersed, and measure the energy of the material as it expands through the galaxy. 2000.Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering on the front. Caption on back label. 40,6 x 40,6cm with margins.
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