Image of the Day: The Whirlpool Galaxy Yields Youngest Supernova Ever

Astronomers have obtained a never-before achieved radio astronomical photograph of the youngest supernova. Fourteen days after the explosion of a star in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) 23 million light years from Earth last June. Coordinated telescopes around Europe took a photograph of the cosmic explosion a hundred times greater in detail than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. This technique, known as radio interferometry-- equivalent to seeing a golf ball on the surface of the moon.

The University of Valencia and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia took part in this research. The results will be published this week in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The telescopes participating in the research were NASA's telescopes at Robledo de Chavela (Madrid) and those of the National Geographic Institute in Yebes (Guadalajara).
 
"Tthis is the earliest high resolution image of a supernova explosion. From this photograph, we can define the expansion velocity of the shock wave created in the explosion', states Iván Martí from the Institut Max Planck of Radio Astronomy in Bonn (Germany).

Supernovas are one of the most spectacular phenomena in the universe. Antxon Alberdi, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia states that 'if we are lucky, like we were this time, we can obtain really clear and high resolution images of the supernovas, thanks to the VLBI technique (Very Long Baseline Interferometry).'

The international team that achieved this photograph is already working on new observations. The European VLBI network is a collaboration of radio astronomy institutes around Europe, China and South Africa, and sponsored by the respective national research bodies.

            


The Daily Galaxy via  Asociación RUVID, via AlphaGalileo

Image credit: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Comments

[qed]

Good note -- but sorry to observe that the standards of text editing appear to be slipping again.

And what does it mean when they say that this is the 'earliest' high-resolution image of a supernova? The event occurred 23 million years ago, which is quite recent. Did you mean to say 'first'?

[Who Knows]

Nice artist's rendering at the top of the page (if nothing else, the scale is all wrong).

The inset image at the bottom of the page shows the actual supernova just fourteen days after detection, making it the first time that a high resolution image has been obtained this early after the initial explosion.

[Polo Outlet]

Of,course! As well know, your article is very attractive, many of my friends have such thoughts, like so many people comment on your articles, look forward to your new works

[Christian Louboutin Outlet]

Hi~,I come back and nice to see your new article,It's great! Thanks for all your efforts that you have put in this. i like with express my support of your ideas in your article, and looking forward to your next article.

[Chanel 2010 Collection]

Still, a good starting point is coursework to learn the basics of the C programming language, object oriented programming, software design, development and testing.

[tablet pc]

It is really a good position. I will share my friend. Hope there will be more good article here!