Observations detect a perfectly shaped supernova remnant
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
What is a supernova?
A new supernova called SN 2023ixf has been making headlines since it first burst into view on May 19, 2023. A supernova is what happens when a star has reached the end of its life and explodes in a brilliant burst of light. Supernovas can briefly outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than our sun will in its entire lifetime. They’re also the primary source of heavy elements in the universe. The term “supernova” was first used by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky at Mount Wilson Observatory, who used it in relation to an explosive event called S Andromedae (also known as SN 1885A), located in the Andromeda Galaxy. We asked Huei Sears, a physics graduate student at Northwestern University, a few frequently asked questions about supernovas. She is working on the host galaxies of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) from 12.5 billion years ago. Long GRBs are thought to come from the deaths of the most massive stars, and so she is trying to describe their host galaxies to see what GRBs might tell us about massive stars. The Crab Nebula, arguably the most famous supernova, was first spotted by Chinese and Korean astronomers
Rare intergalactic supernova may have been seen outside the Milky Way
A ring-shaped object 160,000 light years away may be the first intergalactic supernova remnant ever observed. It may have been spotted between the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We have seen supernovae in other galaxies, but this is the first time they have been seen outside the galaxies they are part of.
How do stars and planets form and evolve?
Asteroids are time capsules, remnants from the era of planet formation. The same chemical makeup of the protoplanetary disk has been immaculately preserved in an asteroid. Protostars are so embedded in their cloud of gas and dust that traditional optical telescopes cannot find them. By observing at lower energy wavelengths, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) is able to peer through the clouds and explore these young stars. Astronomers are using the SMA to study dense cores before the onset of star formation and to probe the disks and dynamics of protostars. OSIRIS-REx will spend several months analyzing the surface before collecting a surface sample and returning to Earth. It is currently on its way to the asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid’s surface and send it back to Earth for further analysis. It will be the first mission of its kind and will take more than a year to reach the asteroid. It has been named OSIRis-REX after the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith, Explorer (OSIRIS) project. It was created by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists and is being funded by the National Science
Just look at this incredible supernova
A long-dead star is still producing a spectacular supernova, and the blast is moving at incredible speeds. Some areas of the supernova blast are moving at speeds of up to 23 million miles per hour. That’s roughly 25,000 times faster than the speed of sound on Earth. The explosion happened some 20,000 light-years from Earth, and it was first observed back in 1604 by Johannes Kepler, the famous astronomer. The speed of the explosion isn’t slowing down in the slightest, and scientists think that debris surrounding the star may have slowed some parts of the blast while allowing it to speed up through other areas. The question that remains unanswered is why the explosion has evolved in the way that it has, and there are a number of possible explanations for why this is the case. The latest study estimated the speeds of the knots by analyzing Chandra X-ray spectra, which give the intensity of X-rays at different wavelengths, obtained in 2016. They also used Chandra images obtained in 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2014 to detect changes in position of the knot and measure their speed perpendicular to our line of sight. This allowed the team of researchers to estimate the speed. of each of the Knot
Astronomers Have Detected a Star Careening Through The Milky Way at 2.5 Million Mph
PSR J0002+6216 is a type of neutron star called a pulsar. It’s travelling at 1,130 kilometres per second (700 miles per second) That could take it from Earth to the Moon in 6 minutes. It is 53 light-years from the centre of a bubble-shaped supernova remnant. The researchers think that the supernova explosion that produced CTB 1 could have been asymmetrical, which somehow kicked the pulsar into high speed, sending it careening off into space. The explosion, the team was able to ascertain, took place around 10,000 years ago. It could help astronomers understand the dynamics that launch these stars into space at such tremendous speeds. One hypothesis is that instabilities in the collapsing star could create a region of slow-moving matter that gravitationally pulls the neutron star towards it, creating the acceleration. So far, Zoomy seems to be consistent with this – although, naturally, more observation is needed. It will eventually be able to escape the Milky Way and continue speeding through intergalactic space. And it has the clearest signpost to its point of origin, pointing directly to the pulser’s birthplace. The team’s paper has been submitted to The Astroph
Exploding Stars Make Key Ingredient in Sand, Glass
A new study reports the detection of silica in two supernova remnants, called Cassiopeia A and G54.1+0.3. A supernova is a star much more massive than the Sun that runs out of the fuel that burns in its core, causing it to collapse on itself. The rapid in-fall of matter creates an intense explosion that can fuse atoms together to create “heavy” elements, like sulfur, calcium and silicon. Silica is a key ingredient in glass, including plate glass for windows, as well as fiberglass. Most of the silicon used in electronic devices comes from silica. The new work confirms that every time we gaze through a window, walk down the sidewalk or set a foot on a beach, we are interacting with the dust that ultimately came together to form our planet. The study was published on Oct 24, 2018, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and it confirms that the silica produced by supernovas over time was significant enough to contribute to the dust of the universe, including the planet we live on. It is the first time silica has been identified as a major component of AGB star dust, a type of red giant star
Astronomers Find Isolated Neutron Star in Small Magellanic Cloud
New images from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have revealed a ring-shaped structure in the young supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219. This discovery allowed ESO astronomer Frédéric Vogt and co-authors to track down the first ever isolated neutron star with low magnetic field located beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. When massive stars explode as supernovae, they leave behind a curdled web of hot gas and dust. These turbulent structures are key to the redistribution of the heavier elements into the interstellar medium, where they eventually form new stars and planets. Typically barely 10 km across, yet weighing more than our Sun, isolated neutron stars are thought to be abundant across the Universe, but they are very hard to find because they only shine at X-ray wavelengths. “We think that this could open up new channels of discovery and study for these elusive stellar remains,” said team member Dr. Liz Bartlett, also from ESO. The results were published online this week in the journal Nature Astronomy (arXiv.org preprint). _____ FréDéric P.A. Vogt et al. Identification of the
Global Perspectives Summary
Global media portray this story through varied cultural, economic, and political filters. While some focus on geopolitical ramifications, others highlight local impacts and human stories. This diversity of coverage reflects how national perspectives influence public understanding.
Sources
- What is a supernova?
- Rare intergalactic supernova may have been seen outside the Milky Way
- How do stars and planets form and evolve?
- Just look at this incredible supernova
- Astronomers Have Detected a Star Careening Through The Milky Way at 2.5 Million Mph
- Exploding Stars Make Key Ingredient in Sand, Glass
- Astronomers Find Isolated Neutron Star in Small Magellanic Cloud
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-supernova-remnant.html