Starship Asterisk*

X rays from Supernova Remnant SN 1006

Explanation: What looks like a puff-ball is surely the remains of the brightest supernova in recorded human history. In 1006 AD, it was recorded as lighting up the nighttime skies above areas now known as China, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion, found in the southerly constellation the Wolf (Lupus), still puts on a cosmic light show across the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, the above image results from three colors of X-rays taken by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory. Now known as the SN 1006 supernova remnant, the debris cloud appears to be about 60 light-years across and is understood to represent the remains of a white dwarf star. Part of a binary star system, the compact white dwarf gradually captured material from its companion star. The buildup in mass finally triggered a thermonuclear explosion that destroyed the dwarf star. Because the distance to the supernova remnant is about 7,000 light-years, that explosion actually happened 7,000 years before the light reached Earth in 1006. Shockwaves in the remnant accelerate particles to extreme energies and are thought to be a source of the mysterious cosmic rays.

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This might be redundant, but I didn't see specific wavelength / energy clearly listed. To add some detail to the the above image link, I believe that red, green, and blue correspond to 0.5-0.8 keV (mostly, K lines of O), 0.8-2.0 keV (mostly, K lines of Ne, Mg, and Si), and 2.0-5.0 keV (mostly, synchrotron emission) bands. The middle-range wavelengths (in angstroms 1Å = 10^-10 meters) for these X-Ray energies are 19Å (red), 8.9Å ( green), and 3.5Å (blue).

Thanks a lot for that information, alter-ego!

Ann

WOW ! considering Prox Centauri is 5 or so light years away and this thing spans 60 light years in 1007 revolutions around the sun,
hat is one heck of a spaceship, caramba

Big bada-boom!

ta152h0 wrote:
WOW ! considering Prox Centauri is 5 or so light years away and this thing spans 60 light years in 1007 revolutions around the sun,
hat is one heck of a spaceship, caramba

• 9,000 km/s (3% of the speed of light) average speed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova wrote:
<<A supernova ... expels much or all of a star's material at a velocity of up to 30,000 km/s (10% of the speed of light), driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust called a supernova remnant.>>

Q: Why did the man punch the laughing fortune teller?

[I'm no scientist, but] the debris cloud has grown to 60 light years across in approximately 1,000 years. So that means it has grown 30 light years from its explosion location in every direction.

How close do you have to be to a supernova to be affected by it?

Assuming a constant cloud growth rate, will Earth be affected by it in approximately (7,000 / 30) * 1,000 = 233,333 years?

I wonder who will be around to experience it.

I'm curious about the asymmetries exhibited in this photograph. The supernova blast, I would assume, would have been nearly symmetrical — very close to a perfect sphere — but this image of a 60 light year wide cloud of gas and debris has gaps and bulges that represent extensions and depressions of up to several light years. What caused them?

I'm no astronomer so my premise may be wrong. But could they be the effect of encounters with dust and gas partially blocking the debris cloud as it expands? Or, perhaps, are they just a mapping of specific X-ray emissions, as cited, with the voids filled by other materials that are not emitting X-rays of the frequencies imaged?

On the other hand, could they be a map of other features of the space-time fabric yet to be considered?

The bulges are about 180 degrees apart. Could they correspond to the star's equator?

Interesting link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InpfacnOgNQ

yasgur wrote:
The bulges are about 180 degrees apart. Could they correspond to the star's equator?

At 60 light years in diameter I would assume that the SN morphology is basically defined by the interstellar medium.

WOW! This has my vote for APOD Image of the Year. Gorgeous.

guysny wrote:I'm curious about the asymmetries exhibited in this photograph.

In the 60 LY sphere shown in the photo are dozens of stars and quintillions of smaller objects, all of which the shock wave passed over. They could surely cause asymmetries, yeah.

K1NS wrote:

guysny wrote:
I'm curious about the asymmetries exhibited in this photograph.

In the 60 LY sphere shown in the photo are dozens of stars and quintillions of smaller objects, all of which the shock wave passed over. They could surely cause asymmetries, yeah.

Material traveling 3% of the speed of light will hardly be affected by the gravity of stars that they pass.

However, stars close to the explosion with powerful magnetic fields and/or stellar winds might have an impact.

This image looks like how my brain feels when I'm stressed...

alter-ego wrote:This might be redundant, but I didn't see specific wavelength / energy clearly listed. To add some detail to the the above image link, I believe that red, green, and blue correspond to 0.5-0.8 keV (mostly, K lines of O), 0.8-2.0 keV (mostly, K lines of Ne, Mg, and Si), and 2.0-5.0 keV (mostly, synchrotron emission) bands. The middle-range wavelengths (in angstroms 1Å = 10^-10 meters) for these X-Ray energies are 19Å (red), 8.9Å ( green), and 3.5Å (blue).

Never having heard of K lines , I did a search and found this:

K-line (spectrometry)
The K-line is a spectral peak in astronomical spectrometry used, along with the L-line, to observe and describe the light spectrum stars.

The K-line is associated with iron (Fe), and is described as being from emissions at ~6.14keV (thousands of electron volts).
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-line_(spectrometry)

I am confused.
Well, MORE confused...

Margarita

LocalColor wrote:This image looks like how my brain feels when I'm stressed...

Absolutely!!

MargaritaMc wrote:
Never having heard of K lines , I did a search and found this:

K-line (spectrometry)
The K-line is a spectral peak in astronomical spectrometry used, along with the L-line, to observe and describe the light spectrum stars.

The K-line is associated with iron (Fe), and is described as being from emissions at ~6.14keV (thousands of electron volts).
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-line_(spectrometry)

I am confused.
Well, MORE confused...

Kevin K-line is known for his great stage presence:
. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... evin-kline

And Kevin K- line made a marvellous Pirate King, Art - but he is not the kind of Mega-Star about whom I am seeking information...
M

I assume that the sphere is still expanding?
The iron is from the innermost core of the source. For reasons which elude my feeble brain, iron atoms are then end of the fusion chain that goes something like this:
H - He - C - O - Ne - Mg - Si - Fe
Helium is the product of hydrogen fusion; carbon is the product of helium fusion, etc. The byproduct of silicon fusion is hydrogen. It seems an odd coincidence that the center of the Earth is iron, lots of silicon to make these images on the computer screen, pressurized carbon makes diamonds, there is plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans. (It is a shame we don't use neon in refrigeration.) Those elements more likely came together with the heavier stuff under the lighter stuff, instead of a burned out star.

MargaritaMc wrote:

alter-ego wrote:This might be redundant, but I didn't see specific wavelength / energy clearly listed. To add some detail to the the above image link, I believe that red, green, and blue correspond to 0.5-0.8 keV (mostly, K lines of O), 0.8-2.0 keV (mostly, K lines of Ne, Mg, and Si), and 2.0-5.0 keV (mostly, synchrotron emission) bands. The middle-range wavelengths (in angstroms 1Å = 10^-10 meters) for these X-Ray energies are 19Å (red), 8.9Å ( green), and 3.5Å (blue).

Never having heard of K lines , I did a search and found this:

K-line (spectrometry)
The K-line is a spectral peak in astronomical spectrometry used, along with the L-line, to observe and describe the light spectrum stars.

The K-line is associated with iron (Fe), and is described as being from emissions at ~6.14keV (thousands of electron volts).
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-line_(spectrometry)

I am confused.
Well, MORE confused...
Margarita

Margarita, I think the answer to your question may be found in here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy
The K-line is an absorption line. A star emits light in a spectrum, and all elements absorb/block small parts of the spectrum when they are present somewhere between you and the light source. (Some absorption lines are known the indicate inter-stellar particles). Iron (Fe) is quite common in stars, and thus I'm guessing why that's one astronomers tend to look at. Hope that helped...

An interesting way to study the phenomena of Supernova. Astronomical events appear to be layered...this is just another layer at other wavelengths.

We are having better weather....hoping to get out Wednesday night...if it is warm enough...clear but colder...

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Interesting RIFT at the bottom...if you look at it with less magnification on the computer screen, it looks like a SMILEY FACE....of JACK the PUMPKIN King in the "Nightmare Before Christmas".

But that is probably just me....

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Curious, this was a white dwarf that ate mass from a companion till it went boom. Isn't that a 1a supernova? Or a standard candle? Was it only brighter due to distance, or was it not 1a?