Posted on 03/01/2023 6:01:34 AM PST by Red Badger
NASA obtained new information from the exploded Tycho Supernova, which was first seen from Earth in 1752. Photo courtesy of NASA
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A group of scientists has uncovered new information from a star that exploded more than 450 years ago, propelling particles to near the speed of light.
Astronomers used NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer to study the remains of a supernova called Tycho. They were able to discover how Tycho accelerates particles closer to the speed of light than any particle accelerator on Earth.
"As one of the so-called historical supernovae, Tycho was observed by humanity in the past, and had a lasting social and even artistic impact," Dr. Riccardo Ferrazzoli, a researcher at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, which partners with NASA on the IXPE mission, said in a statement. "It's exciting to be here, 450 years after its first appearance in the sky, to see this object again with new eyes and to learn from it."
According to NASA, the Tycho supernova blast itself released as much energy as the Sun would put out over the course of 10 billion years. The blast was visible to many on Earth in 1572.
By looking at the shape of Tycho's magnetic field, astronomers were able to come as close as they ever have to observing the source of the cosmic rays emitted by a supernova.
"The process by which a supernova remnant becomes a giant particle accelerator involves a delicate dance between order and chaos," Patrick Slane, senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in a statement. "Strong and turbulent magnetic fields are required, but IXPE is showing us that there is a large-scale uniformity, or coherence, involved as well, extending right down to the sites where the acceleration is taking place."
PING!.....................
“Russia, Russia, Russia”.
Climate change
Must be pretty darn close...
The light having arrived more than 450 years ago means that the actual explosion happened hundreds, thousands or even millions of years before that, depending on the star’s distance from Earth.
8000-9000 light-years away.
Astronomically speaking, yes. 8000-9000 light-years.
I’ll call an Uber tomorrow to go check it out ;)
Honestly, it does cause concern as to when something will actually affect us.
It is in the constellation Cassiopeia and is roughly between 8,000 light years and 9,800 light years from Earth.
Thus, the event took place about 9000 years ago.
Well, the morning mail would be faster if it wasn’t for that pesky postal strike in the UK.
Never forget that you’re usually reading what the reporter understood and the editor allowed, not necessarily what the scientists found out
Never forget that you’re usually reading what the reporter understood and the editor allowed, not necessarily what the scientists found out
“As you hear this, I will have been dead many centuries, but I will reborn as Charlie Rich.”
Pretty neat. I looked up info on this star, and I actually had to reference my star atlases to actually find it. Now I know where to look for it. It should be fairly easy to find it next clear night.
It SHOULD be- my star hopping is a little rusty.
The Tycho supernova remnant is named for the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who reported observing the supernova in 1572. It is located in the Milky Way, about 13,000 light years from Earth. Because of its proximity and intrinsic brightness, the supernova was so bright that it could be seen during the daytime with the naked eye.
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/tycho/
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
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