Hubble Site | STScI-2010-30 | 02 Sep 2010
Supernova Spews Its Guts Across SpaceAn international team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope reports a significant brightening of the emissions from Supernova 1987A. The results, which appear in this week's Science magazine, are consistent with theoretical predictions about how supernovae interact with their immediate galactic environment.
The team observed the supernova remnant in optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared light. They studied the interaction between the ejecta from the stellar explosion and a glowing 6-trillion-mile-diameter ring of gas encircling the supernova remnant. The gas ring was probably shed some 20,000 years before the supernova exploded. Shock waves resulting from the impact of the ejecta onto the ring have brightened 30 to 40 pearl-like "hot spots" in the ring. These blobs likely will grow and merge together in the coming years to form a continuous, glowing circle.
"We are seeing the effect a supernova can have in the surrounding galaxy, including how the energy deposited by these stellar explosions changes the dynamics and chemistry of the environment," said University of Colorado at Boulder Research Associate Kevin France of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy. "We can use these new data to understand how supernova processes regulate the evolution of galaxies."
Discovered in 1987, Supernova 1987A is the closest exploding star to Earth to be detected since 1604 and it resides in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy adjacent to our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Universe Today | 02 Sep 2010
New Hubble Observations of Supernova 1987A Reveal Composition of 'Star Guts' Pouring OutThe recently refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has taken a new look at Supernova 1987A and its famous "String of Pearls," a glowing ring 6 trillion miles in diameter encircling the supernova remnant. The sharper and clearer images are allowing astronomers to see the “innards” of the star being ejected into space following the explosion, and comparing the new images with ones taken previously provides a unique glimpse of a young supernova remnant as it evolves. They found significant brightening of the object over time, and also evident is how the shock wave from the star’s explosion has expanded and rebounded.Click to play embedded YouTube video.
University of Colorado, Boulder | 02 Sep 2010
'Lost years' end for backyard supernovaObservations made with NASA's newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope of a nearby supernova are allowing astronomers to measure the velocity and composition of "star guts" being ejected into space following the explosion, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The team detected significant brightening of the emissions from Supernova 1987A, which were consistent with some theoretical predictions about how supernovae interact with their immediate galactic environment. Discovered in 1987, Supernova 1987A is the closest exploding star to Earth to be detected since 1604 and resides in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy adjacent to our own Milky Way Galaxy.
The team observed the supernova in optical, ultraviolet and near-infrared light, charting the interplay between the stellar explosion and the famous "String of Pearls," a glowing ring 6 trillion miles in diameter encircling the supernova remnant that has been energized by X-rays. The gas ring likely was shed some 20,000 years before the supernova exploded, and shock waves rushing out from the remnant have been brightening some 30 to 40 pearl-like "hot spots" in the ring -- objects that likely will grow and merge together in the coming years to form a continuous, glowing circle.
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A paper on the subject was published in the Sept. 2 issue of Science. The international study involved study co-authors from 15 other universities and institutes and included CU-Boulder astrophysicist Richard McCray, the Science paper's second author.
In addition to ejecting massive amounts of hydrogen, 1987A has spewed helium, oxygen, nitrogen and rarer heavy elements like sulfur, silicon and iron. Supernovae are responsible for a large fraction of biologically important elements, including oxygen, carbon and iron found in plants and animals on Earth today, he said. The iron in a person's blood, for example, is believed to have been made by supernovae explosions.
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The team compared STIS observations in January 2010 with Hubble observations made over the past 15 years on 1987A's evolution. STIS has provided the team with detailed images of the exploding star, as well as spectrographic data -- essentially wavelengths of light broken down into colors like a prism that produce unique fingerprints of gaseous matter. The results revealed temperatures, chemical composition, density and motion of 1987A and its surrounding environment, said France.
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France said the energy input from supernovae regulates the physical state and the long-term evolution of galaxies like the Milky Way. Many astronomers believe a supernova explosion near our forming sun some 4 to 5 billion years ago is responsible for a significant fraction of radioactive elements in our solar system today, he said.
Nature News | 02 Sep 2010
Observing Supernova 1987A with the Refurbished Hubble Space Telescope - K France et alData from repaired Hubble telescope uncover new secrets about our nearest supernova.
As the first findings start to arrive from the Hubble Space Telescope since its repair last year, researchers are shedding new light on one of our nearest and most exciting supernova neighbours as they resume tracking its explosive history.
Supernovae form when a massive star explodes at the end of its life. Opportunities to view the event in a nearby galaxy are scarce, but in 1987 just such an explosion was observed in one of our nearest galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. By a happy coincidence, Hubble was launched only 3 years later, and has been tracking the development of the remnant debris of supernova 1987A throughout its infancy (see Happy Birthday, Hubble). This is a rare and exciting opportunity, says Kevin France, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and lead author on the study.
"We've got this unprecedented picture. We caught it from pretty much day one and we have been watching it ever since — it's kind of in our cosmic backyard," he says.
But Hubble's tracking of Supernova 1987A stopped cold in August 2004, when a power failure occurred in the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. This instrument collects observations of the wavelengths of light radiated by gases, creating a 'spectral fingerprint' of the elements present. The problem was not fixed until May 2009.
A team of researchers led by France was among the last to observe supernova 1987A through Hubble in 2004, and has now collected some of the first data since its repair. They present their results today in Science.
- Science Express (online 02 Sep 2010) DOI: 10.1126/science.1192134
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