Kepler Supernova: 400 Years at High Speed
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Text, News From The Universe. August 24, 2020.
Kepler Supernova: 400 Years at High Speed.
In 1604 astronomers observed the supernova detonation of a distant white dwarf star.
Astronomers today observe the debris from the supernova is still moving fast - up to 23 million miles per hour.
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Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers tracked the speed of knots of debris moving faster than has ever been seen in X-rays.
A multi-colored ball of gas hangs in space.
Text, Red indicates low energy X-rays; green medium, and blue high-energy.
The reason for the continued high-speed is unclear. The supernova may have been unusually powerful...
Or the area around it may be clumpy, allowing debris to tunnel through less-dense pockets with little deceleration.
This news was brought to you in part by the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, MA