SN 1006: The Hot Remains of a 1000 Year-Old Supernova (Forwarded)
- From: Andrew Yee <ayee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:34:54 -0500 (EST)
Chandra X-ray Center
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Cambridge, Mass.
(617) 496-7941
December 15, 2005
SN 1006: The Hot Remains of a 1000 Year-Old Supernova
[http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/sn1006/]
This false-color Chandra image of a supernova remnant shows X-rays
produced by high-energy particles (blue) and multimillion degree gas
(red/green). In 1006 AD, what was thought to be a "new star" suddenly
appeared in the sky and over the course of a few days became brighter than
the planet Venus. The supernova of 1006, or SN 1006, may have been the
brightest supernova on record.
We now know that SN 1006 heralded not the appearance of a new star, but
the cataclysmic death of an old one located about 7,000 light years from
Earth. It was likely a white dwarf star that had been pulling matter off
an orbiting companion star. When the white dwarf mass exceeded the
stability limit (known as the Chandrasekhar limit), it exploded.
The supernova ejected material at millions of miles per hour, generating a
forward shock wave that raced ahead of the ejecta. Particles accelerated
to extremely high energies by this shock wave produce the bright blue
filaments seen in the upper left and lower right of the image. Why the
bright filaments occur only in the observed locations and do not encircle
the remnant is not understood. One possibility is that they are due to the
orientation of the interstellar magnetic field which may be roughly
perpendicular to the filaments.
High pressure behind the forward shock wave pushes back on the supernova
ejecta, causing a reverse shock that heats the ejecta to millions of
degrees. The fluffy red features seen throughout the interior of the
remnant are from gas heated by the reverse shock. The X-ray spectrum of
this gas indicates that it is enriched in oxygen and other elements
synthesized by nuclear reactions during the stellar explosion.
.
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