How Stars Die - Remains of Cassiopeia after a supernova explosion
by Ram Vasudev
Title
How Stars Die - Remains of Cassiopeia after a supernova explosion
Artist
Ram Vasudev
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Art
Description
This is digitally enhanced image of the remains of a star called Cassiopeia A, after a supernova explosion. It is a false-color composite image made up of images obtained by NASA's Chandra and NuSTAR telescopes (NuSTAR is short for Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array). It shows the first-ever map of radioactive material in the remains of a supernova. The red and green colors in this image represent X-ray emissions detected by Chandra coming from iron and silicon/magnesium produced in the explosion, while the blue color shows NuSTAR's map of titanium formed in the core of the explosion. The radioactive titanium-44 was produced in the star's core as it collapsed to a neutron star or black hole. The energy released in the supernova blew off the star's outer layers, and the debris from this explosion has been expanding outward ever since at 3,100 miles per second.
A supernova is the cataclysmic death of a star, which is very luminous and produces a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy before fading from view. The explosion expels much or all of a star's material at a speed that is 10 percent of the speed of light, driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust.
Supernova explosions are of considerable scientific interest because they produce most of the elements that are important to life as we know it. During a supernova, a massive star explodes at the end of its life and the resulting high energy produces heavy elements such as iron and nickel. The explosion also spits out other elements as well across the universe, scattering the stardust which now makes up planets including our Earth. These elements includes the ones we humans and other life forms on Earth are made of - so we are all really made of stardust! Images like the one shown here are exciting because for the first time scientists are getting information about these explosions where the elements are actually produced. These are truly exciting times we are living in.
I have modified the original raw NASA image considerably to enhance the colors, beauty, balance and luminosity, in order to provide you a breathtaking, high quality, fine art print through this website.The original NASA raw capture is in public domain.
Uploaded
February 21st, 2014
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