A Supernova is typically the resultant of the explosion of a star. It occurs when a there is a change in the core or the center of a star. Supernovas burn only for s short period of time, but they enable scientists to discover many things about the universe. For instance, a kind of supernova has led them to discover that the universe is constantly expanding and growing and that too, exponentially. They also help to distribute elements all around the universe. It so happens that if a star explodes it throws out debris and star’s elements all over space. There are many elements that are present in Earth that consist of the material that stars are made of. These elements then help to form new elements and contents of the universe. Hence, a supernova remnant, as the name indicates, is the remnant or leftover of a supernova. (Mathis, 2016). A supernova is a star that is a million times larger than the planet Earth. Therefore, the explosion taking place is a huge one, colossal in nature.
A typical supernova, upon it explosion releases about 1044 joules of energy. This is a large amount of energy which is not perceivable in comparison with the reactions that take place on Earth. (Nscu, 2016).They are so powerful and massive that supernovas can be seen around halfway through the universe. After a star turns into a supernova, a large amount of energy is released which does not dispel in a small time span. A supernova remnant, thus, is the expanded blast wave from the supernova’s explosion, which plows throughout outer space. It also carries with it the remains of the original star that exploded and resulted in the supernova. (Nscu, 2016).
Figure 1
For example, the figure shown above displays a supernova remnant. The various colors used are representative of different things. The bluish ring around the outer edges of the blast waves run out through space at the speed of about 6000 km/s. (Daily Galaxy.com, 2012). This reaction is similar to that which is like the ripples created by throwing a stone into a pond. The colors and the various graphical shades display the release of a large amount of gasses that are present in space, and they are heated up to millions of degrees as the blast waves hit them. The several colors that are seen in the figure like green, orange and yellow are a depiction of the material that was originally present in the star. This is termed as ejecta as it was ejected from the star into outer space. (Blair, 2009).The clutches of red color that can be seen in the picture are depictive of the interstellar dust which has come across the blast wave and has heated up with the contact. (Blair, 2009).The images taken by observing the supernova remnants are taken by The Hubble telescope, The Chandra x-ray Observatory, and The Spitzer Space Telescope. The varying wavelength of the telescopes allows them to grab the picture of the supernova remnant. (Daily Galaxy.com, 2012).
One major supernova remnant that has been investigated and researched upon is the Vela Supernova.
Figure 2
As shown above, the Pencil Nebula shows traces of the Vela Supernova. The glow that can be visible all throughout the space is the explosion of a star that resulted in supernova remnants dispersed in space. This explosion took place about approximately 11,000 years ago. The bluish haze surrounding the nebula consists of the remnants of the Vela Supernova. The red glow is the hydrogen cloud and the numerous stars that are present in the given space. (Skyfactory, 2016).
The name given to this odd-shaped cloud is called NGC 2736 which is a smaller part of the supernova remnant present in the constellation named Vela. The death of star around 11,000 years ago created the glowing, radiant strands across the sky. The Vela supernova remnant is basically an exploding shell of gas which resulted from the supernova explosion. In the beginning, the blast wave moved at about a million kilometers per hour but as the debris moved further into space and expanded deeper, it shoved around the gas present between the stars which caused the acceleration to slow down, and it resulted in the oddly shaped halos of gas in the nebulas space. (Daily Galaxy.com, 2012).
The Vela Supernova remnant is about 815 light years away embedded in the constellation of Vela. In the present day, the Vela Supernova remnant is a quite recent and close explosion that has occurred in our Milky Way. As per observing the image in space through the use of X-rays which show the Vela Supernova remnant as an approximately spherical or elliptical escalating shock wave. Looking at the Pencil Nebula brightest region that holds the Vela Supernova remnant and is shaped like a witch’s broom because the glowing remnants appear to be shaped like a broom.
Although with the passing days, the Vela Supernova remnant is cooling down and the gasses are cooled to a large extent, there is still, however, a large amount of heat and gas present there which is not supportive of life. There is a large amount of hydrogen, with traces of oxygen gas which will not support human life or even plant or animal life. As per the images were taken and the observations made, there has been no evidence of sustainability of life. Therefore, the Supernova remnant is only an explosive matter dispersed in space. (Nscu, 2016).
The Hubble Space Telescope provides a perfect image of the Pencil Nebula region containing the Vela Supernova remnant. What is seen as a flat structure on the screen is a three-dimensional structure which extends on the screen as far as the eye can see in sight. The telescope records the Vela Supernova remnant blast wave extending in space left to right. The colors that are seen are the ionization of the gasses in space, the blue and red showing the intensity of heat where the blue region is generally hotter than the red one. The blue, hotter regions are full of ionized oxygen atoms, and the red areas are cooler, and they emit hydrogen gas. The Pencil Nebula is seen to be 0.75 light years in space and about 0.06% at the speed of light. The lifespan of the Vela Supernova remnant is not determined, but usually, supernova remnants can last from up to 10,000 years and above, depending on their spread and further expansion into space. (Blair, 2009).
Supernova remnants are beautiful structures that can be observed like paintings in the intergalactic space and they appear very colorful and even somewhat like abstract art because of their appearance. There are many nebulae, and they contain numerous supernova remnants which all appear very picturesque and delightful, because of the expanse of the dark universe contrasted with the colors of the gasses that are emitted by the Supernova remnants.
References
Blair, Bill. (2009). “Bill Blair’s Vela Supernova remnant file.” Fuse.php. Retrieved from
http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/~wpb/hstvela/hstvela.html
Daily Galaxy.com. (2012). “Image of the Day: The Spectacular Vela Supernova remnant.”
Retrieved from http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/09/-image-of-the-day-the-spectacular-vela-supernova-remnant.html
Mathis, S. John. (2016). “Supernova Remnant.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/topic/supernova-remnant
Nscu. (2016). “What is a Supernova remnant.” Retrieved from
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~bjwilli2/snrintro.html
Skyfactory. (2016). “Vela Supernova remnant.” Retrieved from
http://www.skyfactory.org/vela/index.php
