Nasa announcement

gerky

May 7, 2008

J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Jennifer Morcone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-7199
jennifer.j.morcone@nasa.gov

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-089

NASA TO ANNOUNCE SUCCESS OF LONG GALACTIC HUNT

WASHINGTON -- NASA has scheduled a media teleconference Wednesday, May
14, at 1 p.m. EDT, to announce the discovery of an object in our
Galaxy astronomers have been hunting for more than 50 years. This
finding was made by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray
Observatory with ground-based observations.

To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact the
Chandra Press Office at 617-496-7998 or e-mail
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu. Live audio of the teleconference will be
streamed online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

A video file about the discovery will air on NASA Television on May
14. NASA TV is carried on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via
satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040
MHz, vertical polarization. NASA TV is available in Alaska and Hawaii
on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz,
horizontal polarization.

For information about NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory on the Web,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

So any idea's?

pwd

gerky wrote: »

So any idea's?

black hole??

Conor108

*cough* Seti?

*Gets coat*

:D:D ah been in AH too long

Serioulsy though dark matter/energy or something thats pretty boring to the layman you know what I mean?

bonkey

Confirmation that there's a supermassive black-hole at Sgr A*, maybe?

If so, I'm not sure how "big" an announcement it would be.

Other than that....more than 50 years....Nemesis?

gerky

Discovery of Most Recent Supernova in Our Galaxy
NASA Release

For Release: May 14, 2008

G1.9+0.3
Image Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al.); Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA/Cambridge/D.Green et al.); Infrared (2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF/CfA/E.Bressert)
Press Image and Caption

The most recent supernova in our Galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA), has implications for understanding how often supernovas explode in the Milky Way galaxy.

The supernova explosion occurred about 140 years ago, making it the most recent supernova in the Milky Way as measured in Earth's time frame. Previously, the last known galactic supernova occurred around 1680, based on studying the expansion of its remnant Cassiopeia A.
X-ray ImageRadio and X-ray Images

The recent supernova explosion was not seen in optical light about 140 years ago because it occurred close to the center of the Galaxy, and is embedded in a dense field of gas and dust. This made it about a trillion times fainter, in optical light, than an unobscured supernova. However, the supernova remnant it caused, G1.9+0.3, is now seen in X-ray and radio images.

"We can see some supernova explosions with optical telescopes across half of the Universe, but when they're in this murk we can miss them in our own cosmic backyard," said Stephen Reynolds of North Carolina State University, who led the Chandra study. "Fortunately, the expanding gas cloud from the explosion shines brightly in radio waves and X-rays for thousands of years. X-ray and radio telescopes can see through all that obscuration and show us what we've been missing."

Astronomers regularly observe supernovas in other galaxies like ours, and based on those rates, estimate that about three should explode every century in our Milky Way, although these estimates have large margins of error.

"If the supernova rate estimates are correct, there should be the remnants of about 10 supernova explosions that are younger than Cassiopeia A," said David Green of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, who led the VLA study. "It's great to finally track one of them down."
X-ray ImageAnimation of G1.9+0.3

The tracking of this source began in 1985 when astronomers, led by Green, used the VLA to identify G1.9+0.3 as the remnant of a supernova explosion near the center of our Galaxy. Based on its small size, it was thought to have resulted from a supernova that exploded about 400 to 1000 years ago.

Twenty two years later, Chandra observations of this object revealed that the remnant had expanded by a surprisingly large amount, about 16% since 1985. This indicates that the supernova remnant is much younger than previously thought.

The young age was confirmed when new radio observations from the VLA were made just within the past several weeks. This "apples to apples" comparison nails the age of the remnant to be about 140 years (less if it has been slowing down), making it the youngest on record in the Milky Way.
animationsZoom into G1.9+0.3

Finding such a recent, obscured supernova is a vital first step in making a better estimate of the supernova rate in our Galaxy. Knowing this rate is important because supernovas heat and redistribute large amounts of gas, pump large amounts of heavy elements out into their surroundings, and can trigger the formation of new stars, closing the cycle of stellar death and rebirth. The explosion may also leave behind, in addition to the expanding remnant, a central neutron star or black hole.

In addition to being a record holder for youth, G1.9+0.3 is of considerable interest for other reasons. The high expansion velocities and the extreme particle energies that have been generated are unprecedented and should stimulate deeper studies of this object with Chandra and the VLA.

"No other object in the Galaxy has properties like this," said Reynolds. "Finding G1.9+0.3 is extremely important for learning more about how some stars explode and what happens in the aftermath.

Scientists can also use it to probe the environment into which it exploded. At perhaps only a few thousand light years from the center of the Galaxy, it appears to be embedded in the dense environment near the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.

These results will appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.
Media contacts:
JD Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Jennifer Morcone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-7199
jennifer.j.morcone@nasa.gov

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
cxcpress@cfa.harvard.edu

Additional information and images are available at:
http://chandra.harvard.edu/
and
http://chandra.nasa.gov

.

armour87

Dr. Evil?

Kevster

Wow... that is pretty close, relatively-speaking.

jon1981

in laymans terms what did they annouce?

Kevster

Ummm, some star nearby used-up all of it's fuel and then blew-up, releasing huge quantities of energy. The remnants of this star will now probably be regularly monitored for decades to come because new stars typically form in the remnants of older ones. That is how our star and planets formed.

jon1981

thats it!!!!! sure ill be long gone again new stars form!

Kevster

Yes, that just proves how insignificant our individual lives are. They are a mere blip on the grand scale of the Universe. We are quite pathetic, in fact.

Oh another interesting fact about Supernovae is that they sometimes leave behind a Neutron Star or Black Hole.

monkeyfudge

Kevster wrote: »

Wow... that is pretty close, relatively-speaking.

25,000 light years is close? I'd hate to know what your commute to work is like.

On a galactic scale that's pretty far.

Here is an illustration with all the novas from the past 2000 years. This one is marked in black.

I thought it was 140 light years away? Not the center of the galaxy but this latest discovery

monkeyfudge

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought it was 140 light years away? Not the center of the galaxy but this latest discovery

It happened 140 years ago.

Kevster

If it is apparently 25,000 light-years away, then how on Earth are we seeing it now if it happened 140 years ago?

25,000 light-years means that it takes the light 25,000 years to reach us.

*Pun on the word 'earth' was unintended

Kevster

Okay, I've just read an article stating that it is in fact 25,000 light years away. What am I missing here? Explain to me.

monkeyfudge

It's not an optical telescope. It's an X-ray observatory.

X-rays are heavily absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, that's why an orbital observatory like Chandra is great for picking up things like super-novas and blacks holes which emit large amounts of x-rays.

Kevster

Silly me. Thanks for clearing it up!

monkeyfudge

Here's the comparison shot to show how much it's expanded in the past 20 years. Pretty cool...

Kevster

What could the separate bits of light to the left and bottom be? Interferance?

monkeyfudge

I'd guess they are materials from the explosion scattered out.

They're all moving at 35 million miles per hour apparently which is exceptionally fast even for a supernova.

Tar.Aldarion

cool