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VIRTUALISATION NASA's supernova hunt in Milky Way ends with discovery of G1.9+0.3
VIRTUALISATION NASA's supernova hunt in Milky Way ends with discovery of G1.9+0.3 | NASA's supernova hunt in Milky Way ends with discovery of G1.9+0.3 |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Thursday, 15 May 2008 | |
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The discovery was announced by NASA on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, at a NASA press conference. NASA said that astronomers “have been hunting for more than 50 years” for this object. [NASA: “NASA to Announce Success of Long Galactic Hunt”] Astronomers developed the theory that the Milky Way galaxy, our home galaxy, should produce two or three supernovas every one hundred years. A supernova is a stellar explosion. The dust and gas that surrounds the explosion of the star is called a supernova remnant. They based this estimate (2 or 3 supernovas every 100 years) on the number of supernovas that explode in other galaxies, which are similar to our own. Unfortunately, no one here on Earth had found a supernova since the year 1680, 328 years ago, when the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A is thought to have exploded within the constellation Cassiopeia. The explosion near the center of the Milky Way galaxy happened about 11,000 light-years away from us. David Green (University of Cambridge, England), who lead the Very Large Array study to find this new supernova remnant, stated, "If the supernova rate estimates are correct, there should be the remnants of about 10 supernova explosions that are younger than Cassiopeia A. It's great to finally track one of them down." [NASA] Astronomers involved with the discovery said it was a difficult supernova to find because it was hidden from view by dense dust and gases found at the galactic center. With its discovery, astronomers are calling this supernova remnant: "G1.9+0.3.” It’s a real catchy name. Actually, the name represents the galactic coordinates of the expanding debris cloud extending out from the supernova itself. NASA and NRAO telescopes did not actually see the explosion of the supernova because the dense gas and dust obscured the object so that it was “a trillion times fainter, in optical light, than an unobscured supernova.” However, the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory (Chandra) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA) are able to “see” celestial objects in the x-ray and radio portions, respectively, of the electromagnetic spectrum. So they saw rapidly expanding x-ray and radio radiation from the debris cloud surrounding the supernova. In fact, Stephen Reynolds (North Carolina State University, Raleigh), who led the Chandra study, stated, "We can see some supernova explosions with optical telescopes across half of the universe, but when they're in this murk we can miss them in our own cosmic backyard. Fortunately, the expanding gas cloud from the explosion shines brightly in radio waves and X-rays for thousands of years. X-ray and radio telescopes can see through all that obscuration and show us what we've been missing." [NASA] How did NASA hunt for this supernova? Please read on. |
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