For the first time, scientists took a close look at the consequences of the explosion of a massive star in the Milky Way
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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have captured a detailed view of a star that exploded in our galaxy thousands of years ago, forming a glowing remnant of a supernova called Cassiopeia A.
According to NASA astronomers, the new image is the closest snapshot of a phenomenon that has intrigued them for decades. Image analysis can help researchers better understand the processes that fuel such explosions.
The space observatory also recorded for the first time mysterious features that were not visible in images of the supernova remnant taken by the Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer telescopes.
The new image was published by the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden. She presented the first ever digital White House advent calendar. In particular, it shows the Webb Telescope’s new perspective on Cassiopeia A – it shines like a Christmas ornament.
| Photo: NASA |
“We’ve never seen this view of an exploding star before. It’s the closest we’ve ever seen to a supernova in our galaxy.” – says astronomer Dan Milisavlevich, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University.
Astronomers used Webb’s near-infrared camera, called NIRCam, to see the supernova remnant at different wavelengths of light than those used in previous observations.
The image shows unprecedented detail of the interaction between the expanding envelope of material created by the supernova as it collides with the gas ejected by the star before it explodes.
Studying the remnant of Cassiopeia A allows scientists to reconstruct what happened during the supernova and learn more about the life cycle of stars.
“Thanks to NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star completely disintegrated in the explosion, leaving behind filaments that look like tiny shards of glass.” Milisavlevich said.
Scientists note that the swirls of gas and dust are all that remain of a star that went supernova 10,000 years ago. Cassiopeia A is located in the constellation Cassiopeia, at a distance of 11 thousand light years from Earth.
Light from Cassiopeia A first reached Earth about 340 years ago. As the youngest known supernova remnant in our galaxy, the celestial object has been studied by many ground-based and space-based telescopes.
We will remind you that Japan plans to land its spacecraft on the moon for the first time – JAXA announced the date.
Read also: The Hubble telescope photographed a globular cluster in the “satellite” of the Milky Way. PHOTO
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