by Elisa Chisari | Aug 25, 2014 | Daily Paper Summaries
Cosmic rays hit the Earth and produce showers of particles that can be detected on the ground. Understanding where these cosmic rays come from can help scientists pin down their sources and construct models for the magnetic field in our neighborhood.
by Korey Haynes | Dec 25, 2013 | Daily Paper Summaries
The Crab Nebula ups its game when it’s found to host the first molecule containing a noble gas to be found in space.
by Adele Plunkett | Mar 2, 2012 | Daily Paper Summaries
Paper title: Spitzer Imaging and Spectral Mapping of the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8 Authors: P. Ghavamian, K. Long, W. Blair, S. Park, R. Fesen, B. Gaensler, J. Hughes, J. Rho, P. F. Winkler First Author’s Affiliation: Towson University, MarylandA star ends its life in a violent supernova (SN) explosion according to one of two (general) mechanisms — (1) core-collapse, forming a neutron star or black hole and an extremely energetic shock wave; or (2) thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf, leaving no central remnant and releasing a very characteristic amount of energy used to infer the distance to these standard candles. Core-collapse SNe can be further classified according to their progenitor stars as type II, Ib or Ic, while thermonuclear supernovae are known as type Ia. More discussion on types of SNe can be found here, or in this Science in the News piece by another astrobiter.One way to better understand how SNe progress is by studying the leftovers, or remnants, of these events (if you like supernova remnants, check out this astrobite too). For example, G292.0+1.8 is a collection of cosmic remains from an unrecorded supernova event that probably occurred about 3000 years ago, and it is unique for its oxygen-dominated optical spectra — hence, its classification as an oxygen-rich supernova remnant (SNR). Moreover, G292 is the remnant of a core-collapse SN, with filaments of gas and dust emitting light as shocks from the SNR propagate outward into the circumstellar medium. The goal of today’s paper is to study emission from G292 at different wavelengths in order to investigate the energy and the morphology of core-collapse SNe.Observations of...
by Susanna Kohler | Apr 8, 2011 | Daily Paper Summaries
The interaction of jets from SS433 with the supernova remnant W50 should create a very different nebula shape than what we observe. Could changes in SS433’s past be the cause of this?