CXC: The Clumpy and Lumpy Death of a Star (Tycho SNR)

[bystander]

The Clumpy and Lumpy Death of a Star
NASA | MSFC | SAO | Chandra X-ray Observatory | 2019 Oct 18

Credit ~ X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIKEN & GSFC/T. Sato et al; Optical: DSS

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In 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was among those who noticed a new bright object in the constellation Cassiopeia. Adding fuel to the intellectual fire that Copernicus started, Tycho showed this "new star" was far beyond the Moon, and that it was possible for the Universe beyond the Sun and planets to change.

Astronomers now know that Tycho's new star was not new at all. Rather it signaled the death of a star in a supernova, an explosion so bright that it can outshine the light from an entire galaxy. This particular supernova was a Type Ia, which occurs when a white dwarf star pulls material from, or merges with, a nearby companion star until a violent explosion is triggered. The white dwarf star is obliterated, sending its debris hurtling into space. ...

Chandra reveals an intriguing pattern of bright clumps and fainter areas in Tycho. What caused this thicket of knots in the aftermath of this explosion? Did the explosion itself cause this clumpiness, or was it something that happened afterward?

This latest image of Tycho from Chandra is providing clues. To emphasize the clumps in the image and the three-dimensional nature of Tycho, scientists selected two narrow ranges of X-ray energies to isolate material (silicon, colored red) moving away from Earth, and moving towards us (also silicon, colored blue). The other colors in the image (yellow, green, blue-green, orange and purple) show a broad range of different energies and elements, and a mixture of directions of motion. In this new composite image, Chandra's X-ray data have been combined with an optical image of the stars in the same field of view from the Digitized Sky Survey. ...

Genus Statistic Applied to the X-Ray Remnant of SN 1572:
Clues to the Clumpy Ejecta Structure of Type Ia Supernovae ~ Toshiki Sato et al

• Astrophysical Journal 879(2):64 (2019 Jul 10) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab24db
• arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1903.00764 > 02 Mar 2019

From Supernova to Supernova Remnant: The Three-Dimensional
Imprint of a Thermonuclear Explosion ~ Gilles Ferrand et al

• Astrophysical Journal 877(2):136 (2019 Jun 01) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab1a3d
• arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1904.08062 > 17 Apr 2019

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

<<Comparing results for the Chandra and simulated images, scientists found that the Tycho supernova remnant strongly resembles a scenario in which the clumps came from the explosion itself. One possibility is that star's explosion had multiple ignition points, like dynamite sticks being set off simultaneously in different locations. A paper describing these results appeared in the July 10th, 2019 issue of The Astrophysical Journal and is available online. Another team of astronomers has constructed their own three-dimensional computer models of a Type Ia supernova remnant as it changes with time. Their work shows that initial asymmetries in the simulated supernova explosion are required so that the model of the ensuing supernova remnant closely resembles the Chandra image of Tycho, at a similar age.>>