Explanation:
A
massive star ends
life as a supernova, blasting its outer layers back
to interstellar space.
The spectacular
death explosion is initiated by
the collapse of what has become an impossibly dense stellar core.
Pictured is
the expanding supernova remnant Puppis A -
one of the brightest sources in
the x-ray sky.
Now seen to be about 10 light-years in diameter, light from the
initial stellar explosion first reached Earth
a few thousand years ago.
Recorded by the
Chandra Observatory's
x-ray cameras, the inset view shows striking
details of
the strong shock wave disrupting an interstellar cloud
as the shock sweeps through preexisting material.
The larger field ROSAT image also captures a
pinpoint source of x-rays
near the remnant's center.
The source is a young
neutron star, the remnant of the
collapsed stellar core kicked out by the
explosion
and moving away at about 1,000 kilometers per second.
