thefinalfrontier Posted February 22, 2009 #1 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Tycho's Supernova Remnant: A New View of Tycho's Supernova Remnant This composite image of the Tycho supernova remnant combines X-ray and infrared observations obtained with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope, respectively, and the Calar Alto observatory, Spain. It shows the scene more than four centuries after the brilliant star explosion witnessed by Tycho Brahe and other astronomers of that era. The explosion has left a blazing hot cloud of expanding debris (green and yellow) visible in X-rays. The location of ultra-energetic electrons in the blast's outer shock wave can also be seen in X-rays (the circular blue line). Newly synthesized dust in the ejected material and heated pre-existing dust from the area around the supernova radiate at infrared wavelengths of 24 microns (red). Foreground and background stars in the image are white. Oliver Krause, from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, recently studied reflected light from the supernova explosion seen by Brahe. Use of these "light echoes" - not shown in this figure - has confirmed previous suspicions that the explosion was a Type Ia supernova. This type of supernova is generally believed to be caused by the explosion of a white dwarf star in a binary star system. Fast Facts for Tycho's Supernova Remnant: Credit X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: MPIA, Calar Alto, O.Krause et al. Scale Image is 15.5 arcmin across. Category Supernovas & Supernova Remnants Coordinates (J2000) RA 00h 25m 9.00s | Dec +64° 9' 55.00'' Constellation Cassiopeia Observation Date 29 Apr 2003 Observation Time 41 hours Obs. ID 3837 Color Code X-ray: Yellow, Green, Blue; Infrared: Red; Optical: White stars Instrument ACIS Also Known As G120.1+01.4, SN 1572 Distance Estimate 7,500 light years Release Date February 18, 2009 Source/Photo http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/tycho/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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