R&R: Hubble Captures Remnant of Super-Nova

Hubble snaps ghostly ribbon of light

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02 July 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Rachel Courtland

Medieval skywatchers got to see a star explode, but modern-day astronomy buffs get all the pretty pictures of its ghostly remains.

Hubble has captured a close-up of the remnant of a supernova that exploded in the Milky Way over 8000 years ago, and whose light reached Earth on 1 May 1006. The explosion is one of the brightest in recorded history and was visible with the naked eye.

The delicate-looking remnant is actually part of a shock wave from the stellar explosion. The roiling remains are still expanding, moving at a clip of about 10 million kilometres per hour.

Hubble’s image is mostly a composite made from the visible light emitted by hydrogen atoms in the remnant.

Bright parts of the twisting ribbon are places where the shock wave from the explosion lies edge-on with our line of sight.

The remains of the supernova are faint in visible light, but astronomers have produced stunning images in the X-ray part of the spectrum.