Friday, October 12, 2012

APOD 1.7 Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121009.html

This image shows a remnant of a super nova named Simeis 147. Right now, it is estimated that the super nova is 150 light years long and 3000 light years away from Earth. The picture is mostly red because a special filter was used that allows hydrogen to be shown. This means that a large part of this super nova is made up of hydrogen. It is estimated that this super nova is 40,000 years old. It is also known that there is a spinning neutron star left behind, also known as a pulsar. Something that strikes me about this image is that the blast from the super nova, or the red part of the image, is not sphere shaped. I would like to know why some of the edges of it are farther away from the center than others. I would think that since the explosion came from a central point, all the matter from the explosion would be equal distances away.

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