A composite image of the oldest known supernova, called RCW 86, has just been released by NASA. The photograph contains X-ray data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Observatory, as well as infrared data from the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infr... |
14 February 2012
02:17 GMT |
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Astronomers analyzing a supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud – one of the dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way – recently discovered that the giant cloud was inhabited by a very young pulsar.
A pulsar is a type of neutron star, whose position in the sky relative to Earth makes its radiation j... |
21 December 2011
03:28 GMT |
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Data from the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope reveal the Puppis A supernova remnant with unprecedented accuracy, showing off its rose-like shape. The stellar explosion that produced this structure occurred some 3,700 years ago.
At that time, some of our ancestors must have been puzzled to... |
10 December 2011
05:47 GMT |
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Using the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers were recently able to answer some of the most difficult questions related to the supernova RCW 86. Chinese astronomers were the first to detect it in 185 AD, and the object is widely accepted as the oldest documented supernova event.
In the new investigation, expe... |
25 October 2011
03:32 GMT |
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The conclusions of a new scientific survey call into question a long-standing theory that explains how cosmic rays are formed. The leading explanation for this might need some serious updating, or even replacing, investigators in charge of the study say.
Cosmic rays are highly energetic particle streams that cont... |
4 March 2011
02:53 GMT |
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For many years, astronomers have observed the fireballs left behind by supernova explosions, and they only saw symmetric remnants. But now the case is getting stronger that a particular type of supernova is capable of creating asymmetrical nebulae after the original explosion subdues. There are several possible ways ... |
1 March 2011
05:03 GMT |
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A new astronomical investigation carried out with a NASA telescope has revealed the existence of a circular, rainbow-like structure around the remnants of a star that exploded fairly recently. As the massive star reached the end of its burning cycle, it shed the external layers of its atmosphere in a massive cosmic e... |
10 December 2010
05:49 GMT |
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Astronomers announce that they've recently discovered a worrying fact – our Sun, and with it the entire solar system, including Earth – is heading for contact with a massive, hot cloud of interstellar gas. The meet-up will take place within the next 100 years or so, and the event will represent the c... |
26 May 2010
11:07 GMT |
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Supernova explosions are generally accepted to be among the most violent phenomena taking place in the Universe. They take place when massive stars reach the end of their burning cycle, and exhaust their hydrogen supply. As they explode, they produce so much energy that their light signature briefly outshines that of... |
25 May 2010
04:14 GMT |
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Using telescope data spanning an entire decade, researchers have recently compiled a new dataset on how the renowned supernova remnant Cassiopeia A's neutron star is evolving over time. The celestial body is the youngest known such formation to date, and so peering into the interior of this super-dense star is s... |
15 April 2010
16:01 GMT |
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Historically speaking, more than four centuries have passed since the first telescopes were pointed at the sky. In the mean time, astronomers have begun to learn how to augment their observations, and started constructing increasingly larger and complex observatories. They even learned, with the help of physicists, h... |
1 April 2010
02:58 GMT |
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When a massive star reaches the end of its burning cycle, it becomes unable to sustain nuclear fusion all on its own, and also exhausts all of its hydrogen fuel. When this happens, the object sheds the outer layers of its atmosphere, all the way to the core, in a violent explosion called a supernova. Classifying the ... |
18 December 2009
16:01 GMT |
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