Starship Asterisk*

N63A: Supernova Remnant in Visible and X-ray

Explanation: What has this supernova left behind? As little as 2,000 years ago, light from a massive stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) first reached planet Earth. The LMC is a close galactic neighbor of our Milky Way Galaxy and the rampaging explosion front is now seen moving out - destroying or displacing ambient gas clouds while leaving behind relatively dense knots of gas and dust. What remains is one of the largest supernova remnants in the LMC: N63A. Many of the surviving dense knots have been themselves compressed and may further contract to form new stars. Some of the resulting stars may then explode in a supernova, continuing the cycle. Featured here is a combined image of N63A in the X-ray from the Chandra Space Telescope and in visible light by Hubble. The prominent knot of gas and dust on the upper right -- informally dubbed the Firefox -- is very bright in visible light, while the larger supernova remnant shines most brightly in X-rays. N63A spans over 25 light years and lies about 150,000 light years away toward the southern constellation of Dorado.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

I was surprised... which IS easy to do... that at only 2000-5000 years old...it is 25 light years in diameter. But considering the Crab Nebula is only 965 years old...at 11 light years in diameter, I guess it makes some sense...I just thought it would have been smaller for some reason...

The Firefox looks like he is in distress... no doubt... big explosion... lots of Shock...

:---[===] *

I'm guessing the star is near the RH of the firefox. If is is then are we just seeing X-rays from the bubble that it approaching us and if so does that mean the X-rays tend to be sent in the direction of the expanding gas cloud?

madtom1999 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:49 am
I'm guessing the star is near the RH of the firefox. If is is then are we just seeing X-rays from the bubble that it approaching us and if so does that mean the X-rays tend to be sent in the direction of the expanding gas cloud?

The brightness of the X-rays from the sides of bubble would suggest not.

The gases are millions of degrees hot such that heavy metals like iron radiate thermal X-rays equally in all directions.

I sometimes let my imagine run wild!
Like a small mouse!

The "FireFox" nebula? The "Little Mouse" nebula? Come, your imaginations are running wild.

I dub thee "Seagull Poo" Nebula!
John

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:49 pm N63A_HubbleChandraSchmidt_960.jpg

I sometimes let my imagine run wild!
Like a small mouse!

The mouse that ROARED?