SN 1604, Kepler's Supernova, Optical
Over 400 years ago, Johannes Kepler and many others witnessed the appearance of a new "star" in the sky. Today, this object is known as the Kepler supernova remnant. Previously, astronomers have deduced that the Kepler remnant comes from a so-called Type Ia supernova, which is the result of a thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf. New data from Chandra suggest that this white dwarf exploded after pulling material from a companion red giant star, and not from the merger with another white dwarf. Optical image of the star field is from the Digitized Sky Survey. Release date March 18, 2013.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
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