Explanation:
What star created this huge puffball?
Pictured above is the best multi-wavelength image yet of
Tycho's supernova remnant, the result of a stellar explosion
first recorded over 400 years ago by the famous astronomer
Tycho Brahe.
The above image
is a composite of an
X-ray
image taken by the orbiting
Chandra X-ray Observatory, an
infrared image taken by the orbiting
Spitzer Space Telescope, and an optical image taken by the 3.5-meter
Calar
Alto telescope located in southern
Spain.
The expanding gas cloud is extremely hot, while slightly different expansion speeds have given the cloud a puffy appearance.
Although the star that created
SN 1572,
is likely completely gone, a star dubbed
Tycho G, too dim to be easily discerned here,
is being studied as the possible companion.
Finding progenitor remnants of
Tycho's supernova is particularly important because the
supernova
was recently determined to be of Type Ia.
The peak brightness of
Type Ia supernovas is thought to be well understood, making them quite valuable
in calibrating how our
universe dims distant objects.
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