Scientists Discover Youngest Supernova

Scientists have been searching for supernovae in the Milky Way galaxy for quite some time. On average, our galaxy presents two or three stars going supernova a year. And since there has been no known evidence of supernovae in the Milky Way since 1680 (Cassiopeia A is the last known star to flare), astronomers and other scientists were hoping to find something, anything.

And they did.

Back in 1985, astronomers using information gathered by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (which is located in space) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (in New Mexico) began tracking what they thought were remains of a star. From the speed of the expansion observed over the last 22 years, they were able to determine that this was actual evidence of a supernova that exploded only 140 years ago, making it the youngest supernova in recorded history within the Milky Way. It has been designated "G1.9+0.3." Not a poetic name, to be sure, but that may be due to the fact that those are the gas cloud's coordinates near the heart of our galaxy.

The studies are generating much interest because of the rapid expansion rate of the gases, which is what suggested to the astronomers that "G1.9+0.3" was actually a supernova in the first place.

David Green, who led the Very Large Array part of the study, believes that there should be as many as ten remnant clouds of supernovae younger than their recent discovery. "It's great to finally track one of them down," he told Science @ NASA.

Stephen Reynolds, who led the Chandra side of the study, stated: "No other object in the galaxy has properties like this. This find is extremely important for learning more about how some stars explode and what happens in the aftermath."

In the meantime, while they search for the others, perhaps Green and Reynolds can come up with a better name for the newest discovery.

Source:

Tony Phillips, "Galactic Hunt Bags Missing Supernova," NASA.gov