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Collection:
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NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Collection
Collection
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Collection
Collection
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Title:
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The (Almost) Invisible Aftermath of a Massive Star's Death
Title
The (Almost) Invisible Aftermath of a Massive Star's Death
Title
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Description:
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For the universe's biggest stars, even death is a show. Massive stars typically end their lives in explosive cataclysms, or supernovae, flinging abundant amounts of hot gas and radiation into outer space. Remnants of these dramatic deaths can linger for thousands of years and be easily detected by professional astronomers.
However, not all stars like attention. Thirty thousand light-years away in the Cepheus constellation, astronomers think they've found a massive star whose death barely made a peep. Remnants of this shy star's supernova would have gone completely unnoticed if the super-sensitive eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hadn't accidentally stumbled upon it.
These three panels illustrate just how shy this star is. Unlike most supernova remnants, which are detectable at a variety of wavelengths ranging from radio to X-rays, this source only shows up in mid-infrared images taken by Spitzer's Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The remnant can be seen as a red-orange blob at the center of the picture.
Although the visible-light (left) and near-infrared (middle) images capture the exact same region of space, the source is completely invisible in both pictures. Astronomers suspect that the remnant's elusiveness is due to its location away from our Milky Way galaxy's dusty main disk, which contains most of the galaxy's stars. A supernova is most noticeable when the material expelled during the star's furious death throes violently collides with surrounding dust. Since the shy star sits away from the galaxy's dusty and crowded disk, the hot gas and radiation it flung into space had little surrounding material to crash into. Thus, it is largely invisible at most wavelengths.
MIPS did not need dust to see the remnant. The mid-infrared instrument was able to directly detect the oxygen-rich gas from the supernova's explosive death throes.
The visible-light (left) image is a three-color composite of data from the California Institute of Technology's Digitized Sky Survey. In this image, light with a wavelength of 0.44 microns is represented as blue, 0.55-micron light is green, and 0.9-micron light is red.
The near-infrared (middle) image is a two-color composite of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera. In this image, starlight captured at 4.5 microns is represented in blue, and 8-micron light from dust is green. The far-infrared image (right) combines the infrared array camera data with the multiband imaging photometer data, which show light of 24 microns in red.
Description
For the universe's biggest stars, even death is a show. Massive stars typically end their lives in explosive cataclysms, or supernovae, flinging abundant amounts of hot gas and radiation into outer space. Remnants of these dramatic deaths can linger for thousands of years and be easily detected by professional astronomers.
However, not all stars like attention. Thirty thousand light-years away in the Cepheus constellation, astronomers think they've found a massive star whose death barely made a peep. Remnants of this shy star's supernova would have gone completely unnoticed if the super-sensitive eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hadn't accidentally stumbled upon it.
These three panels illustrate just how shy this star is. Unlike most supernova remnants, which are detectable at a variety of wavelengths ranging from radio to X-rays, this source only shows up in mid-infrared images taken by Spitzer's Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The remnant can be seen as a red-orange blob at the center of the picture.
Although the visible-light (left) and near-infrared (middle) images capture the exact same region of space, the source is completely invisible in both pictures. Astronomers suspect that the remnant's elusiveness is due to its location away from our Milky Way galaxy's dusty main disk, which contains most of the galaxy's stars. A supernova is most noticeable when the material expelled during the star's furious death throes violently collides with surrounding dust. Since the shy star sits away from the galaxy's dusty and crowded disk, the hot gas and radiation it flung into space had little surrounding material to crash into. Thus, it is largely invisible at most wavelengths.
MIPS did not need dust to see the remnant. The mid-infrared instrument was able to directly detect the oxygen-rich gas from the supernova's explosive death throes.
The visible-light (left) image is a three-color composite of data from the California Institute of Technology's Digitized Sky Survey. In this image, light with a wavelength of 0.44 microns is represented as blue, 0.55-micron light is green, and 0.9-micron light is red.
The near-infrared (middle) image is a two-color composite of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera. In this image, starlight captured at 4.5 microns is represented in blue, and 8-micron light from dust is green. The far-infrared image (right) combines the infrared array camera data with the multiband imaging photometer data, which show light of 24 microns in red.
Description
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Release Date:
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2006/05/10
Release_Date
2006/05/10
Release Date
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Release Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Release_Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Release Credit
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Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Image_Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Image Credit
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Image Credit:
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DSS
Image_Credit
DSS
Image Credit
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Object name:
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SSTGFLS J222557 601148
Object_name
SSTGFLS J222557 601148
Object name
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Object type:
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supernova remnant
Object_type
supernova remnant
Object type
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Position (J2000):
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*RA: *22h25m57.00s *Dec: *60d11m48.00s
Position_(J2000)
*RA: *22h25m57.00s *Dec: *60d11m48.00s
Position (J2000)
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Distance:
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30,000 light-years
Distance
30,000 light-years
Distance
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Constellation:
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Cepheus
Constellation
Cepheus
Constellation
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Wavelength:
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4.5 (blue), 8.0 (green), 24 (red) microns
Wavelength
4.5 (blue), 8.0 (green), 24 (red) microns
Wavelength
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Wavelength:
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0.44 (blue), 0.55 (green), 0.9 (red) microns
Wavelength
0.44 (blue), 0.55 (green), 0.9 (red) microns
Wavelength
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Observers:
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Patrick Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Susan Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center)
Stefanie Wachter (Spitzer Science Center)
Alberto Noriega-Crespo (Spitzer Science Center)
Thomas Pannuti (Spitzer Science Center)
D. W. Hoard (Spitzer Science Center)
Observers
Patrick Morris (NASA Herschel Science Center)
Susan Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center)
Stefanie Wachter (Spitzer Science Center)
Alberto Noriega-Crespo (Spitzer Science Center)
Thomas Pannuti (Spitzer Science Center)
D. W. Hoard (Spitzer Science Center)
Observers
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Instrument:
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IRAC MIPS
Instrument
IRAC MIPS
Instrument
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Instrument:
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DSS
Instrument
DSS
Instrument
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Exposure Date:
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December 2003 - July 2004
Exposure_Date
December 2003 - July 2004
Exposure Date
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Exposure Time:
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48s (IRAC), 36s (MIPS)
Exposure_Time
48s (IRAC), 36s (MIPS)
Exposure Time
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Related links:
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Related_links
Related links
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note:
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*Visible-light image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012a_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: DSS
note
*Visible-light image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012a_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: DSS note
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note:
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*Spitzer IRAC-only image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012b_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA HSC)
note
*Spitzer IRAC-only image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012b_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA HSC) note
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note:
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*Spitzer IRAC-MIPS image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012c_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA HSC)
note
*Spitzer IRAC-MIPS image* Screen-Resolution (450x430): JPEG [ http://ipac.jpl.nas…sig06-012c_small.jpg ] High-Resolution (900x859): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. Morris (NASA HSC) note
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facet_what:
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Spitzer Space Telescope
facet_what
Spitzer Space Telescope
facet_what
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facet_what:
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MIPS
facet_what
MIPS
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cepheus
facet_what
Cepheus
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
facet_what
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
facet_what
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facet_where:
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California
facet_where
California
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington, D.C.
facet_where
Washington, D.C.
facet_where
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facet_when:
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December 2003
facet_when
December 2003
facet_when
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facet_when:
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July 2004
facet_when
July 2004
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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2003
facet_when_year
2003
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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2004
facet_when_year
2004
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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sig06-012
Image_#
sig06-012
Image #
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-SPITZ-sig06-012
UID
SPD-SPITZ-sig06-012
UID
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