14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently, it's not just regular folks that turn nostalgic around the holidays. On the contrary, astronomers too get the urge to revisit old memories during this time of the year.
For instance, it was earlier today that scientists with the European Space Agency saw it fit to release an image that, although not exactly new, is nothing short of mindblowing.
The image, available below, is a multicolored view of a supernova remnant dubbed RCW 86. Thus, the blue and the green stand for X-ray emissions, the red glow indicates infrared emissions and the yellow indicates the presence of stars.
As explained by astronomers, the X-ray emissions documented in this space image originate from masses of insanely hot gas. The infrared emissions, on the other hand, come from warm dust aimlessly floating about.
For those unaware, a supernova is a stellar explosion that occurs when a star reaches the end of its life and goes kaboom. Following such a dramatic cosmic event, impressive masses of gas and dust are left behind.
Thus, the gas and the dust shown in this ESA image are actually the remains of a star that, having used up all its fuel, exploded in a supernova. This explosion is believed to have occurred at a distance of about 8,000 light-years from Earth.
“The material ejected during these explosions sweeps up gas and dust from the surroundings, creating picturesque supernova remnants that can be observed long after the explosion,” ESA explains in a statement.
In case anyone was wondering, this multicolored image of supernova remnant RCW was put together using data obtained with the help of the XMM-Newton, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.
