New observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory fill that gap, showing that the transition is unexpectedly smooth.

The research also offers a new view of how the remnants light up.

35 years ago …

When some of the more massive stars in the universe reach the ends of their lives, they explode dramatically. Ancient astronomers sometimes saw these supernovas as they unexpectedly appeared in the sky. In modern times, supernovas in other galaxies have been spotted by various observatories recording X-rays and gamma rays.

The remnant of an explosion is a glowing shell that expands into space. The Hubble Space telescope and others have made fantastic images out of these remnants.

But scientists have not known when a supernova becomes a remnant or what powers the glowing shell.

Stefan Immler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center led a team that recently examined a supernova that exploded in 1970, called SN 1970G. It sits just off the handle of the Big Dipper.

The astronomers combined new observations from Chandra with archived data from the European-led ROSAT and XMM-Newton observatories.

Instead of finding glowing interstellar gas, as they expected, the researchers concluded the remnant’s glow comes from a wind of charged particles that emanated long ago from the dying star. The material was shed by the star thousands to million of years before it went supernova, and the shock of the explosion is overtaking all the previously ejected particles.

That collision heats the material and creates the X-ray glow.

"Some astronomers have thought there's a moment when the supernova remnant magically turns on years after the supernova itself has faded away, when the shock wave of the explosion finally hits and lights up the interstellar medium," Immler said. "By contrast, our results show that a new supernova quickly and seamlessly evolves into a supernova remnant. The star's own debris, and not the interstellar medium gas, fuels the remnant."

Source For Full Article : Click Here

Credit To Author.

Disclaimer

This website contains copyrighted news material - the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We believe that our use of such material for nonprofit educational purposes (and other related purposes) constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in the US Copyright Law at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. If for any reason you believe that our use of your material on this site does not fall within the fair use guidelines, please immediately notify The Black Vault so that we can promptly address the matter.

Sincerely,

John Greenewald, Jr.

a The Black Vault Headquarters