Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: Light Echoes Time-lapse | Webb Telescope
This time-lapse video using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope highlights the evolution of one light echo in the vicinity of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A within the Milky Way galaxy. A light echo is created when a star explodes or erupts, flashing light into surrounding clumps of interstellar dust and causing them to shine in an ever-expanding pattern. Webb’s exquisite resolution shows incredible detail within these light echoes and it presents their expansion over the course of just a few weeks—a remarkably short timescale considering that most cosmic targets remain unchanged over a human lifetime.
The light echo here is coming from unrelated material that is behind Cassiopeia A, not material that was ejected when the star exploded. Cassiopeia A is located in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is the brightest extrasolar radio source in the sky at frequencies above 1 GHz.
Distance: approximately 11,000 light-years
Infrared light echoes are also extremely rare, since they require a specific type of supernova explosion with a short pulse of energetic radiation.
Video: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jacob Jencson (Caltech/IPAC), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Release Date: Jan. 14, 2025
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #SupernovaRemnant #CassiopeiaA #CasA #Cassiopeia #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #JamesWebb #WebbSpaceTelescope #JWST #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #JPL #Caltech #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video
No comments:
Post a Comment