supernova: search

A supernova is caught in the act of exploding

Astronomers have, for the first time, observed a star in the act of exploding. The event happened in January while NASA’s Swift satellite was observing another supernova in the same galaxy. The supernova explosion was preceded by an X-ray outburst of about seven minutes. This new milestone in the study of supernova explosions was published just a week after the announcement of the discovery of the remains of the most recent supernova in our galaxy.

Eta Vs. Peony: Which Star Will Go Supernova First?

The reigning champion for brightest star in the Milky Way is Eta Carinae, a highly unstable star prone to violent outbursts. Astronomers say Eta Car's life will probably end in 100,000 years or so with a supernova explosion. That's relatively soon in cosmic terms. But the Spitzer Space Telescope has unearthed a contender, both in brightness and in the supernova competition, found in the dusty depths of our galaxy's center. Astronomers say the Peony nebular star might be as bright as Eta. But the biggest question may be, which star will be the first to go supernova?

Hubble Does Independence Day With Stars and Stripe

Back in 1006 A.D, observers from Africa to Europe to the Far East witnessed and recorded the arrival of light from what is now called SN 1006, a tremendous supernova explosion caused by the final death throes of a white dwarf star nearly 7,000 light-years away. One Egyptian astronomer recorded the object was 2 - 3 times as large as the disc of Venus and about one quarter the brightness of the moon. The supernova was probably the brightest star ever seen by humans, visible even during the day for weeks, and it remained visible to the naked eye for at least two and a half years before fading away. Remnants of this supernova are still visible to telescopes, and the Hubble Space Telescope captured this close-up a filament of the shock wave of the explosion, still reverberating through space, seen here against the grid of background stars.

Hubble observes "thin ribbon" of 1,000-yr-old supernova remnant

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has sent back images that show a delicate ribbon of gas, which is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

Hubble observes thin ribbon of 1,000-yr-old supernova remnant

Washington, July 2 : NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has sent back images that show a delicate ribbon of gas, which is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

Hubble observes "thin ribbon" of 1,000-yr-old supernova remnant

Washington, July 2 : NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has sent back images that show a delicate ribbon of gas, which is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

Going Supernova

AAAS members activate your FREE subscription to ALL Science content since 1880, as well as ScienceNOW, the SAGE KE Archive and AAASMember.org.

[REPORTS] Supernova Shock Breakout from a Red Supergiant

Jump to: Page Content, Section Navigation, Site Navigation, Site Search, Account Information, or Site Tools.

Hubble sees celestial fireworks

Supernova remnant SN 1006 is imaged here. NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) [View Larger Image]

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Star Dunes, Comet Probe, More

July 1, 2008—The remnant of a supernova called SN 1006 hangs like a gumball 7,000 light-years away in a composite image released last Tuesday by NASA.

Object intermediate between normal supernovae and gamma-ray bursts found

A European-led team of astronomers are providing hints that a recent supernova may not be as normal as initially thought. Instead, the star that exploded is now understood to have collapsed into a black hole, producing a weak jet, typical of much more violent events, the so-called gamma-ray bursts.

Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ADVANCED CAMERA FOR SURVEYS, HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD PLANETARY CAMERA 2, SUPERNOVA 1006, SN 1006

Hubble snaps ghostly ribbon of light

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a close-up of the expanding remnants of a supernova observed in 1006 CE (Image: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team)

From Space to the Olympics

Space and the Olympics might not be synonymous in most people's minds — although this image of the Opening Ceremony fireworks makes it look like Olympic Stadium is going supernova — but there are a few connections between the two for this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Google Earth recently updated the satellite imagery it uses for the Beijing area to provide users with better maps. They also used satellite imagery to create a 3-D tour of all the facilities for the 2008 Olympics (see video below). Other space connections include several space explorers who carried the Olympic torch on its running tour around the world, and NASA space spinoff technology used in some of the clothing and equipment for Olympic use.

Cosmic Mystery: NGC 7008 by Dietmar Hager

Over the weeks we've taken a look at some very curious objects which have often raised some wonderful questions. One such question dealt with what could be observed should a supernova event involve a planetary system. In this case, it's not quite the explosive mass destruction scenario - but a planetary nebula that consumed its planets…

WeekEnd SkyWatcher's Forecast: July 4 - 6, 2008

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! If you're enjoying a holiday weekend where you live, then start the fireworks off as we begin by remembering Deep Impact and journey towards a nearby star approaching the supernova phase. As things heat up towards one of the most spectacular conjunctions of the year, we'll also take a look at another globular cluster study, lunar features and a binocular deep sky treat! Are you ready to step in the realm of a Barnard dark nebula? The grab your optics and let's head out into the night…

Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks

A delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an alien spaceship? A jet from a black-hole? Actually this image, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks

A delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an alien spaceship? A jet from a black-hole? Actually this image, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

Hubble Sees Stars And A Stripe In Celestial Fireworks

A delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an alien spaceship? A jet from a black-hole? Actually this image, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

NASA Shows Off Fireworks In Space

Before we completely bid adieu to our nation's birthday, we here at Gizmodo would like to give one more shout out to the fourth of July. Seems like even the stars in the sky can't resist putting up a display for good ol' American freedom. These red-white-and-blue pictures of Supernova remnant SN 1006 are what's left over from a star explosion first observed by humans in year 1006.

The End of Humanity: Nukes, Nanotech, or God-Like Artificial Intelligences?

Oxford, England—The Global Catastrophic Risks conference sponsored by the Future of Humanity Institute concluded on Sunday. Participants were treated to a series of presentations describing how billions of people could potentially bite the dust over the next century. The possible megadeath tolls of both natural and biotech pandemics were considered. The chances that asteroids, comets, or gamma ray bursts from a nearby supernova could wipe out humanity were calculated. The old neo-Malthusian threats of overpopulation, resource depletion, and famine were trotted out. But these risks to future human well-being paled in comparison to one main menace—malicious human ingenuity.

Proposed Mission Could Study Space-Time Around Black Holes

What do black holes, magnetars and supernovae have in common? They all emit X-rays. But it's difficult, if not impossible to study certain aspects of the X-ray emissions from these powerful objects. And there's much we don't understand about how black holes distort space-time around them, or how magnetars affect their surroundings, or how cosmic rays are accelerated by shocks in supernova remnants. A proposed new NASA mission called Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS), will use a new technique to study what has been unattainable until now. GEMS won't study the X-ray emission of these objects directly, but will build up a picture indirectly by measuring the polarization of X-rays emitted from these violent regions.

JPL Camera Marks Hubble's 100,000th Orbit

In commemoration of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope completing its 100,000th orbit, scientists used the JPL-built Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 to take a snapshot of a dazzling region of a nebula 170,000 light-years away (near the Tarantula nebula). Hubble peered into a small portion of the nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074 (upper, left). The region, a firestorm of raw stellar creation, is one of the most active star-forming regions in our Local Group of galaxies. Scientists speculate it was perhaps triggered by a nearby supernova explosion.

Astronomers Up to Speed

Australian astronomers have successfully bid for a 10 Gb/s data link across the US. The link will be used to demonstrate the practicality of moving the enormous amounts of data produced by major telescopes over large distances. "This wilt be important for demonstrating techniques that will be used for the international Square Kilometre Array radio telescope (AS, April 2008, pp.20-22)," said Prof Brian Boyle, Director of CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility. The link is ten times as fast as the one used by the ATNF to transmit data on Supernova 1987a to Europe in real time (AS, Jan/Feb 2008, p-43).

Search took 0.02 seconds.