Satellite captures image of debris from supernova explosion

For the first time, country’s first dedicated multi-wavelength astronomy satellite, Astrosat, has captured an x-ray image of the debris of a supernova. Called the SN 1572, the supernova is located 10,000 light years away. The supernova remnant is roughly 3.7 times smaller than the full moon and the emission is brighter near the edge as it expands.

Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was among many astronomers across Europe and China to see the supernova explosion as a new star in November 1572. He studied the explosion till it faded away in 1574 following which he wrote ‘Concerning the Star, new and never before seen in the life or memory of anyone’. The writing included a position chart of the exploded supernova in the sky. Since then, the debris from the Tycho supernova — named after Brahe — has been captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope and Spain-based Calar Alto observatory, among others.

But this is the first observation of SN 1572 captured by the indigenously built soft x-ray telescope (SXT) on board Astrosat in constellation Cassiopeia — considered as the most recognisable W shaped constellation in the northern sky. Astrosat, with five instruments on board, was launched in September 2015.

“This exercise was to prove that our telescope and camera CCD can provide useful information. Our telescope can clearly see lines of emissions from various ions,” said KP Singh, project manager, Astrosat, and visiting faculty at IISER Mohali.

He added, “The spectra from SXT are better and comparable with other similar satellites from the past. We can now show that we have the capability to study strong spectral lines in the x-ray band that are emitted by atoms in the highly ionised plasma.

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