Tycho Brahe Supernova Remnant, SN 1572
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:29 pm
Vivid View of Tycho's Supernova Remnant
Spitzer Space Telescope - sig08-016 - 2008 Dec 3
Provided by Subaru Telescope facility, Hilo, Hawaii
Astronomy.com - 2008 Dec 3
Space.com - 2008 Dec 3
Spitzer Space Telescope - sig08-016 - 2008 Dec 3
- This composite image of the Tycho supernova remnant combines infrared and X-ray observations obtained with NASA's Spitzer and Chandra space observatories, respectively, and the Calar Alto observatory, Spain. It shows the scene more than four centuries after the brilliant star explosion witnessed by Tycho Brahe and other astronomers of that era.
The explosion has left a blazing hot cloud of expanding debris (green and yellow). The location of the blast's outer shock wave can be seen as a blue sphere of ultra-energetic electrons. Newly synthesized dust in the ejected material and heated pre-existing dust from the area around the supernova radiate at infrared wavelengths of 24 microns (red). Foreground and background stars in the image are white.
Provided by Subaru Telescope facility, Hilo, Hawaii
Astronomy.com - 2008 Dec 3
- The movements of planets and seasonal variations to the constellations have been relatively the same for thousands of years. What if the sky changed overnight and a new star brighter than anything else appeared? Would it be noticed if it happened in the 16th century?
A few months ago astronomers at the Subaru Telescope observed light from a "new star" that astronomer Tycho Brahe and others saw November 11, 1572.
Space.com - 2008 Dec 3
- On Nov. 11, 1572, astronomer Tycho Brahe observed a bright "new star" — now known as a supernova — in the constellation Cassiopeia. Brahe observed the star, which outshone even Venus in the night sky until it faded from sight in March 1574.
Now, more than 400 years later, astronomers have use the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii to observe "light echoes" from the stellar blast to determine its origin and type and relate that information to what they see in the supernova remnant today.