Astronomers Dissect the Messy Aftermath of a Spectacular Supernova

Scientists may have caught a glimpse inside one of the most spectacular explosions in the universe: a supernova. Using radio telescopes, researchers have examined the inside remains of a supernova.

The supernova in question is known as SN1987A. It was first seen by observers in the Southern Hemisphere in 1987 when a giant star suddenly exploded at the edge of a nearby dwarf galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. Since then, the supernova has continued to be a focus for researchers who have studied the exploded star in depth.

"By combining observations from the two telescopes we've been able to distinguish radiation being emitted by the supernova's expanding shock wave from the radiation caused by dust forming in the inner regions of the remnant," said Giovanna Zanardo, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This is important because it means we're able to separate out the different types of emission we're seeing and look for signs of a new object which may have formed when the star's core collapsed. It's like doing a forensic investigation into the death of a star."

In this case, the researchers witnessed something that they've never seen before within the center of the supernova. The scientists believe that the object could be a pulsar wind nebula, driven by the spinning neutron star, or pulsar, which astronomers have been searching for since 1987.

Yet this isn't the only thing that scientists have recently discovered concerning the supernova. They've also created a detailed three-dimensional simulation of the expanding supernova shockwave. This helped explain why the radio emission from one side of the remnant has appeared "brighter" than the other.

"Our simulation predicts that over time the faster shock will move beyond the ring first," said Toby Potter, one of the researchers. "When this happens, the lop-sidedness of radio asymmetry is expected to be reduced and may even swap sides."

The findings are published in two papers here and here in The Astrophysical Journal.