Astrophysicists Discover Youngest Supernova

There is a new kid on the galactic block, apparently. Scientists were able to discover what they called the youngest supernova seen in the Milky Way as they looked through thick clouds of interstellar dust.

The supernova, named G1.9+0.3 was first sighted by a team of astrophysicists at North Carolina State University led by Stephen Reynolds. Suspecting the supernova to be younger than most others, they looked at images of the supernova taken in 2007 from the Chandra X-ray Observatory at NASA and compared them with radio observations made in the 1980s.

Reynolds’ team estimated the supernova to be only 140 years old, which makes it at least 200 years younger than its nearest competitor, the Cassiopeia A, a supernova discovered some time in the 17th century A.D.

Speaking about the supernova, Reynolds said, “Cas A had been the reigning youngest remnant for so long that it took a while to sink in that we had found something less than half its age.”

It would have been possible for people to see G1.9+0.3 as early as in the 1800s itself, but for the fact that it was shrouded in interstellar dust. They would have seen it appear in the constellation Sagittarius then.

G1.9+0.3 is some 26,000 light years away from us and is expanding very rapidly. With its discovery, there is a possibility a door may have opened somewhere for a better understanding of stars as the phenomenon of their explosion, or the supernova.

Over the last 22 years, G1.9+0.3 has increased in size by about 16 percent. This is a good pointer to work out when the first explosion occurred. Experts think that could have happened about 140 years back. That number could be lesser if they are able to determine that there has been a slowdown in the rate of expansion.

Reynolds said, “Normally, we deal with older remnants and have to work very hard to see even tiny changes. This supernova is getting brighter, which means it’s still on its way up. Studying it will go a long way toward filling in gaps in our knowledge of these events and their effect on galaxies.”

A supernova is basically an exploding star whose main function, in its death, is to power the life cycle of galaxies. When a star explodes, it scatters heavy metals, cosmic rays and high energy particles, all of which help in the creation of new stars.

While the supernova is a very bright phenomenon, many times that aspect takes a backseat as it is swathed in gas and interstellar dust, thereby making it impossible to detect supernova remnants (SNRs) through optical telescopes. However, one can still see SNRs if they are using x-ray or radio telescopes.

The results of the discovery by Reynolds and his team is scheduled to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters’ June 10 edition.