Computer Simulation Shows Exploding Stars Slosh Around Before Going Supernova
Posted on March 1, 2014
This 3-D computer simulation using NuSTAR data shows how exploding stars slosh around before exploding in supernovas. NuSTAR is NASA's high-energy X-ray observatory. It created the first map of radioactive material from a supernova remnant named Cassiopeia A (Cas A). High-energy X-rays from radioactive material are colored blue in the above image.
Fiona Harrison, the principal investigator of NuSTAR at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, says in a statement, "Stars are spherical balls of gas, and so you might think that when they end their lives and explode, that explosion would look like a uniform ball expanding out with great power. Our new results show how the explosion's heart, or engine, is distorted, possibly because the inner regions literally slosh around before detonating."
Take a look:
A research paper on the sloshing supernova was published here in the journal, Nature. Last year, astronomers learned using an X-ray study of the remains of an exploded star that a star explodes and turns inside out in a supernova explosion.