NASA announced that new image supernova remnant Cassiopeia A Photographed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) (Cas A). Even though Cas A is one of the most well-studied supernova remnants in the universe, JWST imaged Cas A in a different way, using a near-infrared camera (NIRCam) .
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Cas A is located in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 11,000 light-years from Earth. It is made from the remains of a giant star that astronomers believe exploded about 340 years ago.Since then, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, hubble space telescopeand now retired Spitzer Space Telescope Assembled multi-wavelength photographs of debris from a stellar explosion. JWST allows astronomers to observe Cas A at different wavelengths. This image shows more intricate details of this expanding shell of material that collides with gas ejected from the star before it explodes.
color coding
in April, Images of Cas A made with JWST’s mid-infrared instrument reveal some new and surprising features in its inner shell. Astronomers are now investigating why many of these features are also present in new images taken with NIRCam, which provide a different perspective of the same supernova remnant.
Infrared light is invisible to the human eye. Image processors and scientists convert the wavelengths of light in these images into visible colors. Colors were assigned to the various filters on his NIRCam of his JWST viewed in near-infrared light. Each shade suggests something different is happening within Cas A.
Bright orange and bright pink blobs make up the inner shell of the supernova remnant. JWST detected small clumps of gas consisting of sulfur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the exploding star itself. Embedded in the gas is a mixture of dust and molecules that could someday form the building blocks of new stars and planetary systems.
“NIRCam’s resolution allows us to see how the dying star was completely shattered when it exploded, leaving behind filaments that resemble tiny glass shards,” said Purdue University astronomer Danny Milisavljevic. he said. stated in a statement. “After all these years of studying Cas A, it’s really exciting to now know its details and provide us with transformative insight into how this star exploded. It’s unbelievable.”
In the new near-infrared image, Cas A’s inner cavity and outermost shell appear lighter in color compared to mid-infrared images previously taken by JWST. Areas that looked deep orange and red when photographed with MIRI now appear white, like smoke. This shows where the blast wave of the first star’s explosion is impacting the surrounding circumstellar material. Dust is too cold to be directly detected at near-infrared wavelengths, but it glows in mid-infrared.
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The research team believes that the smoky part of the image is synchrotron radiation. This type of light is emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum, including near-infrared radiation. Synchrotron radiation is produced by charged particles that fly through space at very high speeds, rotating in a spiral around magnetic field lines.
Missing “green monster” and new “baby”
loop of The green light in the central cavity is called the Green Monster. It’s also not visible in this new image. When it was first discovered, researchers described it as “difficult to understand.” Although it is not visible in the NIRCam image, the circular hole that was just visible in his previous MIRI image is faintly outlined in white and purple In this new NIRCam image. White and purple represent ionized gases. The researchers believe that the ionized gas is produced when supernova debris pushes out and scrapes away the gas left behind by the star before it explodes.
The Green Monster may have been missing from the NIRCam images, but the team was in for another surprise. A large blob was visible in the lower right corner of NIRCam’s field of view.this The huge lump is called Baby Cas A Because it looks like a descendant of a major supernova remnant.
Baby Cass A is an echo of light, light from a long-gone stellar explosion warming distant dust. This dust in the distance glows as it cools. The research team is particularly interested in Baby Cas A’s complex dust pattern and its proximity to Cas A itself. Baby Cas A may be located about 170 light-years behind the supernova remnant.