APOD: Puppis A Supernova Remnant (2015 Aug 28)

[APOD Robot]

Puppis A Supernova Remnant

Explanation: Driven by the explosion of a massive star, supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away. At that distance, this colorful telescopic field based on broadband and narrowband optical image data is about 60 light-years across. As the supernova remnant expands into its clumpy, non-uniform surroundings, shocked filaments of oxygen atoms glow in green-blue hues. Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red. Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by the collapse of the massive star's core, would have reached Earth about 3,700 years ago. The Puppis A remnant is actually seen through outlying emission from the closer but more ancient Vela supernova remnant, near the crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Still glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum Puppis A remains one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky.

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[Ann]

This is a great photo, with fantastically shaped nebulas. And Don Goldman richly deserves another APOD - I'm sure he must have a few already!

Ann

[Epszteinbenoit]

At two o'clock from center, a sheep with uneven ears can be seen looking toward the center.

[Wolf]

I don't understand the distances mentioned. If it is 7000 light years away, why was it not seen 7000 years ago rather than 3700 years? When I followed the link, the distance was given as 11,000 light years so I'm really confused.

[neufer]

I don't understand the distances mentioned. If it is 7000 light years away, why was it not seen 7000 years ago rather than 3700 years?

The 7000 light years delayed the earthly observation of 3700 years ago.

(The Puppis A Supernova could be said to have occurred 7000 + 3700 [~ 11,000] years ago.)

When I followed the link, the distance was given as 11,000 light years so I'm really confused.

Do you mean the link to the closer (800 light year) but more ancient (11,000 year old) Vela supernova remnant

(The Vela Supernova could be said to have occurred 800 + 11000 [~ 12,000] years ago.)

[MarkBour]

I'm also confused. How much of this image is the Puppis A remnant? My guess would be the nearly bilaterally-symmetric bean-shaped blob at the upper right.

[starsurfer]

I'm also confused. How much of this image is the Puppis A remnant? My guess would be the nearly bilaterally-symmetric bean-shaped blob at the upper right.

Everything in the image except the blue filaments in the top left corner are part of the Puppis A remnant. The two large bright filaments in the top left corner belong to the Vela Supernova remnant. Also this image only shows the southern part of Puppis A due to the limited field of view and the large size of Puppis A. The whole of Puppis A can be seen in this image by Marco Lorenzi and it can also be seen in relation to the Vela Supernova remnant in this mosaic by Marco Lorenzi.

[starsurfer]

Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red.

Is it known whether this supernova remnant contains sulfur emission?

[Boomer12k]

In the large picture, it looks like a Shark on a feeding frenzy.....just me I guess.

I looked up other images...from this, it is hard for me to tell what is what....

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[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]A wide-field view of the Puppis A supernova remnant along with a close-up image of the neutron star, known as RX J0822-4300, that is moving at a blistering pace. The larger field-of-view is a composite of X-ray data from the ROSAT satellite (pink) and optical data (purple), from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 0.9-meter telescope, which highlights oxygen emission.[/color] [size=85]Credit: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al; ROSAT: NASA/GSFC/S.Snowden et al.; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al.[/size][/b].

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<<The neutron star was ejected by the [Puppis A supernova] explosion. The inset box shows two observations of this neutron star obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory over the span of five years, between December 1999 and April 2005. By combining how far it has moved across the sky with its distance from Earth, astronomers determined the cosmic cannonball is moving at over [1600 km/s], one of the fastest moving stars ever observed. At this rate, RX J0822-4300 is destined to escape from the Milky Way after millions of years, even though it has only traveled about 20 light years so far.

The results from this study suggest the supernova explosion was lop-sided, kicking the neutron star in one direction and much of the debris from the explosion in the other. The estimated location of the explosion is shown in a labeled version of the composite image. The direction of motion of the cannonball, shown by an arrow, is in the opposite direction to the overall motion of the oxygen debris, seen in the upper left. In each case, the arrows show the estimated motion over the next 1,000 years. The oxygen clumps are believed to be massive enough so that momentum is conserved in the aftermath of the explosion, as required by fundamental physics.>>

[Jim Leff]

My first thought: this looks like the last frame of a lingering shot of a sci-fi film explosion effect.

My second thought: this after-explosion has lingered for more or less the length of our entire civilization

My third thought: that's what the protozoa in the puddle near my front porch might have observed, noticing that my porch lightbulb burned out a few minutes ago.

[Beyond]

My first thought: this looks like the last frame of a lingering shot of a sci-fi film explosion effect.

My second thought: this after-explosion has lingered for more or less the length of our entire civilization

My third thought: that's what the protozoa in the puddle near my front porch might have observed, noticing that my porch lightbulb burned out a few minutes ago.

My first thought about your post was: are you sure there are any protozoa in the puddle to have observed the far away flash of your bulb?

[DavidLeodis]

It's a great image . It's also good to see the excellent straightforward technical information in Don's website about the image that includes such as the location and dates it was acquired .