Oldest-recorded supernova unveiled by XMM-Newton and Chandra
Minimum credit line: Image courtesy of Jacco Vink (SRON Utrecht) and ESA. (for details, see Conditions of Use).
Credit: ESA/XMM-Newton, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The image above can be displayed at full size and may be downloaded by clicking the image above.
| About this Image |
|---|
The figure shows an XMM-Newton EPIC camera full field view of the supernova remnant RCW 86, with an inset of a close-up by Chandra. The age of the remnant derived by the investigators suggests that this supernova remnant is likely to be associated with SN 185, a supernova explosion 2000 years ago observed by Chinese astronomers. The image is false-coloured according to energy band, such that low energy (0.5-1 keV) photons are shown in red, medium energy (1.0-2.0 keV) photons are shown in green, and high energy (2.0-6.6) photons are shown in blue.
In a supernova the outer layers of a star are thrown off into space, which collide with the interstellar medium, creating the supernova remnant (SNR) and a shock front. The observed X-ray emission from this SNR can be divided into two types: thermal, caused by the material having undergone heating; and synchrotron, caused by the acceleration of high energy electrons in a magnetic field. Usually synchrotron processes give rise to radio emission, but in this case the radio emission is weak and the X-ray emission strong, indicating a high shock velocity. The progenitor star had a stellar wind, an outflow from the star which deposits a denser shell of material into space before the supernova explosion. The type of emission observed depends on whether the shock has reached the shell or not. See the reference for further details.
Investigator(s): Jacco Vink, Johan Bleeker, Kurt van der Heyden, Andrei Bykov, Aya Bamba, and Ryo Yamazaki
| For More Information |
|---|
- Read the Press Release
- Read the Journal article
- Detailed description of this image
- Query XSA archive for XMM-Newton data in the field of RCW 86
- Astronomical database entries for RCW 86;
- Query SIMBAD for more RCW 86 data
- For unfamiliar terms, visit the XMM-Newton Astronomical Glossary
| Alternate Resolutions | (Help) |
|---|
This image is available in the following downloadable versions: Higher resolution versions of this image may be available, please contact the XMM-Newton HelpDesk.
Search the Image Gallery
To search the Image Gallery for a particular object, fill in the object name in the box below and click the Submit button.To search the Image Gallery for other images, fill in any of the fields below and click the Submit button.
For more search options, please use our Advanced Search form.