MessageToEagle.com - It is one of the brightest and strangest objects in the Milky Way - the corpse of
a star that exploded around 1000 years ago. Only a handful of such young supernova remnants are known.
The object named G350.1-0.3 is also incredibly small (only eight light years across) and young in astronomical terms.
Its shape, age and chemical composition will allow astronomers to better understand the violent ways in which stars end their lives.
A few years ago, this unique object was observed by astronomers at the University of Sydney, who used the X-ray capabilities
of XMM-Newton.
When astronomers took the first high-resolution radio images of a celestial object known as ‘G350.1-0.3’ in the 1980s, they saw an
irregular knot of gases that did not seem to meet these expectations.
So it was classified as a probable background galaxy and was quietly forgotten.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has also studied many of these supernova remnants sprinkled across the Galaxy.
The latest example of this important investigation is Chandra's new image of the supernova remnant known as G350.1+0.3.
This stellar debris field is located some 14,700 light years from the Earth toward the center of the Milky Way.
Evidence from Chandra and from ESA's XMM-Newton telescope suggest that a compact object within G350.1+0.3 may be the
dense core of the star that exploded. The position of this likely neutron star, seen by the arrow pointing to "neutron
star" in the inset image, is well away from the center of the X-ray emission.
If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a
powerful kick in the supernova explosion.
Data from Chandra and other telescopes suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is between 600 and 1,200 years old. If the estimated
location of the explosion is correct, this means that the neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour since the explosion.
G350.1+0.3 is a young and exceptionally bright supernova remnant about 15,000 light years from Earth. Its unusual shape
suggests that the debris from the supernova explosion is expanding into a nearby cloud of cold gas. Astronomers think the
star that created G350.1+0.3 exploded between 600 and 1,200 years ago. Credits: NASA/Chandra
This is comparable to the exceptionally high speed derived for the neutron star in Puppis A, another neutron star moving at a blistering
pace within a supernova remnant.
The G350+1+0.3 data provide new evidence that extremely powerful "kicks" may be imparted to neutron stars
left behind once the supernova has exploded.
Another intriguing aspect of G350.1+0.3 is its unusual shape.
To explain its shape, the team looked at radio surveys and discovered that G350.1-0.3 had exploded next to a dense cloud of
gas about 15 000 light-years from Earth.
The cloud prevented the blast from expanding evenly in all directions, resulting in an example of a rare kind of misshapen supernova remnant.
While many supernova remnants are nearly circular, G350.1+0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen in the Chandra data in
this image (gold). Infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (light blue) also trace the morphology found by Chandra.
Astronomers think that this bizarre shape is due to stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas.
G350.1+0.3 is a young and exceptionally bright supernova remnant in our Galaxy. While many supernova remnants are nearly
circular, G350.1+0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen
in a new composite image of X-rays from Chandra and infrared data from Spitzer.
Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I. Lovchinsky et al; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The age of 600-1200 years puts the explosion that created G350.1+0.3 in the same time frame as other famous supernovas
that formed the Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants. However, it is unlikely that anyone on Earth would have seen the
explosion because of the obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant.
The scientists on this paper were Igor Lovchinsky and Patrick Slane (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics),
Bryan Gaensler (University of Sydney, Australia), Jack Hughes (Rutgers University), Jasmina Lazendic (Monash University Clayton,
Australia), Joseph Gelfand (New York University, Abu Dhabi), and Crystal Brogan (National Radio Astronomy Observatory).
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The object is definitely not as its "contemporaries" that appeared immediately after the Big Bang event.
Thermonuclear Burning In A Neutron Star Detected For The First Time!
It's a very important discovery!
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This ball of stars is too faint to see with the naked eye, yet Hubble can see over 250 000 individual stars shining in it.
Messier 9, pictured here, is a globular cluster, a roughly spherical swarm of stars that lies around 25 000 light-years from Earth,
near the centre of the Milky Way, so close that the gravitational forces from the galactic centre pull it slightly out of shape.
Bright Star In The Constellation Lyra Is Cooler Than The Human Body
The coldest class of stars have temperatures as cool as the human body.
Astronomers hunted these dark orbs, termed Y dwarfs, for more than a decade without success.
When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see.
Is The Universe Infinite?
Explore the biggest question of all. How far do the stars stretch out into space? What's beyond them?
In modern times, we built giant telescopes that have allowed us to cast our gaze deep into the universe. Astronomers have
been able to look back to near the time of its birth. They've reconstructed the course of cosmic history in astonishing detail.
Near-Miss Asteroid 2012 DA14 Returns Next Year
This time, the asteroid is going to miss our planet, but it comes back next year.
When it whizzes past Earth in 2013, a newly discovered asteroid is going to miss our planet – but not by much.
The 50 m space rock is expected to come closer than many satellites, highlighting the growing need to keep watch on hazards from above.
Astronomical Mystery - Tremendous Explosion And Appearance Of Odd Rings
Twenty five years ago, on 1987 February 23, the brightest supernova of modern times was observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The collision occurred at speeds near 60 million kilometers per hour and shock-heats the ring material causing it to glow.
Over time, astronomers have watched and waited for the expanding debris from this tremendous stellar explosion to crash into previously expelled material...
Doesn't Secret Dark Matter Exist?
The more scientists study dark matter they know lesser and are not particularly optimistic about their results.
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A mysterious and still unknown substance is totally invisible in the Universe and reveals its presence only through its gravitational pull...
Dwarf Irregular Galaxy That Forces Scientists To Re-Evaluate Old Theory
Astronomers from Center for Astrophysics of the University of Porto, Portugal and Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden come up
with new findings regarding one of the most studied objects - the dwarf galaxy I Zw 18.
The results led the scientists to the conclusion that this enigmatic blue compact dwarf might force
astronomers to review current galaxy formation models and much of what is known about galaxy formation and evolution might need substantial revision.
MessageToEagle.com - It is one of the brightest and strangest objects in the Milky Way - the corpse of
a star that exploded around 1000 years ago. Only a handful of such young supernova remnants are known.
A team of astrophysicists from Germany, France and Italy have discovered in the constellation Leo is an old star.
The star's existence raised at once many questions for scientists.
The object is definitely not as its "contemporaries" that appeared immediately after the Big Bang event.
It's a very important discovery!
For the first time, an international team of scientists have detected all phases of thermonuclear burning in a
neutron star, located close to the center of the galaxy in the globular cluster Terzan 5.
Is the Alcubierre warp drive a doomsday weapon or our passport to the Universe?
The Alcubierre warp drive is a theoretical tool that would allow for spacecraft to travel long distances in space rapidly,
by deforming the space-time continuum in a bubble around the spaceship...
The origin of Earth's water is hotly debated. New discoveries suggest that our planet's seas could once have been giant icebergs floating through space.
The reason why it remains unclear how our oceans were created is because our planet formed at such high temperatures that any original water must have evaporated.
This ball of stars is too faint to see with the naked eye, yet Hubble can see over 250 000 individual stars shining in it.
Messier 9, pictured here, is a globular cluster, a roughly spherical swarm of stars that lies around 25 000 light-years from Earth,
near the centre of the Milky Way, so close that the gravitational forces from the galactic centre pull it slightly out of shape.
The coldest class of stars have temperatures as cool as the human body.
Astronomers hunted these dark orbs, termed Y dwarfs, for more than a decade without success.
When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see.
Explore the biggest question of all. How far do the stars stretch out into space? What's beyond them?
In modern times, we built giant telescopes that have allowed us to cast our gaze deep into the universe. Astronomers have
been able to look back to near the time of its birth. They've reconstructed the course of cosmic history in astonishing detail.
This time, the asteroid is going to miss our planet, but it comes back next year.
Twenty five years ago, on 1987 February 23, the brightest supernova of modern times was observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The more scientists study dark matter they know lesser and are not particularly optimistic about their results.
Astronomers from Center for Astrophysics of the University of Porto, Portugal and Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden come up
with new findings regarding one of the most studied objects - the dwarf galaxy I Zw 18.