Tycho Supernova Remnant (IMAGE)

Rutgers University

Tycho Supernova Remnant

Caption

This image comes from a very deep Chandra observation of the Tycho supernova remnant, produced by the explosion of a white dwarf star in our Galaxy. Low-energy X-rays (red) in the image show expanding debris from the supernova explosion and high energy X-rays (blue) show the blast wave, a shell of extremely energetic electrons. These high-energy X-rays show a pattern of X-ray "stripes" never previously seen in a supernova remnant. Some of the brightest stripes can be seen on the right side of the remnant pointing from the outer rim to the interior. The stellar background is from the Digitized Sky Survey and only shows stars outside the remnant.

Credit

X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/K. Eriksen et al.; Optical: DSS

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