From WIRED · Jorge Garay · · 1m 30s
Medieval supernova revealed in stunning detail
The Gemini North telescope has captured the clearest image yet of Pa 30, a nebula from a supernova witnessed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1181.
In brief
The Gemini North telescope has captured the clearest image yet of Pa 30, a nebula from a supernova witnessed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1181. Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii have obtained the most detailed image of the Pa 30 nebula, revealing previously unseen structures that could…
A thousand-year-old explosion, now in focus
Astronomers have obtained the most detailed image of the Pa 30 nebula, remnants of a supernova observed and documented from Earth during the Middle Ages. The new photograph reveals structures that had long gone unnoticed.
Ten times more detail than before
Observations made with the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii revealed about ten times more structures than any previous glimpses of the supernova remnant. The filaments are not continuous but shaped like beads on a string.
Cosmic pearls of enormous size
Each bead in the filaments measures about four light-days in diameter. According to Ilaria Caiazzo, a coauthor of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal, the planetary region of our solar system could fit in…
“The planetary region of our solar system could fit in each knot about 10 times with room to spare.”
Mysterious order in cosmic chaos
The knots are strikingly uniform in size and appear aligned along the filaments. This peculiar order is unexpected, as astronomers assumed a supernova's aftermath would contain much more oddly shaped accumulations of material.
A zombie star that survived
The Pa 30 nebula is unusual because its central star is not entirely dead but considered a zombie star.
In short
Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii have obtained the most detailed image of the Pa 30 nebula, revealing previously unseen structures that could help explain how zombie stars survive supernovae.
