Narrow-band Images of Tycho's Supernova Remnant
X-ray pictures of Tycho's supernova remnant.
This false color photo-montage shows pictures of the bright supernova remnant SN1572 taken with the CCD cameras aboard the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA). The supernova remnant was formed after a star in our Galaxy exploded. This supernova explosion was recorded by the astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572 and the remnant is named after him. Since the explosion, expanding gas from the star has been colliding with the surrounding material, producing a violent shock. This shock generates a shell of X-ray light. The bright regions in the pictures show the location of this shock along the rim of the remnant. The energy spectrum of the X-ray light from the remnant shows bright emission lines of unique elements in the shocked material. These elements include Magnesium, Silicon, Sulfur, Argon, Calcium, and Iron formed during the lifetime of the star and during the supernova explosion. These narrow-band images map the distribution of these elements around the remnant.
The picture was processed at NASA's Goddard Space flight Center, which supplied ASCA's telescope mirrors; the CCD cameras were developed at MIT, and the satellite was launched and is managed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Japan.
Photo Credit: Dr. Eric V. Gotthelf, Columbia University. The above author grants permission to reproduce part or all of this image for non-commercial educational use only so long as the photo credit is displayed.
This document is maintained by Eric Gotthelf 212-864-9047, eric@astro.columbia.edu