SN 2010jl, UGC 5189A Supernova, X-Ray
Observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have provided the first X-ray evidence of a supernova shock wave breaking through a cocoon of gas surrounding the star that exploded. On November 3, 2010, a supernova was discovered in the galaxy UGC 5189A, located about 160 million light years away. Using data from the All Sky Automated Survey telescope, astronomers determined this supernova exploded in early October 2010. In optical light, SN 2010jl was about ten times more luminous than a typical supernova resulting from the collapse of a massive star, adding to the class of very luminous supernovas that have been discovered recently with optical surveys. In the first Chandra observation of SN 2010jl, the X-rays from the explosion's blast wave were strongly absorbed by a cocoon of dense gas around the supernova. This cocoon was formed by gas blown away from the massive star before it exploded. In the second observation taken almost a year later, there is much less absorption of X-ray emission, indicating that the blast wave from the explosion has broken out of the surrounding cocoon. Release date May 15, 2012.
Size: 3185px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -ray, 2010jl, 2012, 21st, 5189a, astronomical, astronomy, body, burst, celestial, century, chandra, cxc, deep, detection, emission, exploding, explosion, galaxies, galaxy, heavenly, image, object, observation, observatory, radiation, remnant, science, shock, sky, sn, snr, space, star, stellar, supernova, ugc, wave
