The Spaghetti Nebula, a new image by the IAC’s remote astrograph

Image of Simeis 147 (also known as Sharpless 2-240 and by the popular name of the Spaghetti Nebula), taken with the remote astrograph of the Unit for Communication and Scientific Culture (UC3) of the IAC, which is at the Teide Observatory (Izaña, Tenerife
Image of Simeis 147 (also known as Sharpless 2-240 and by the popular name of the Spaghetti Nebula), taken with the remote astrograph of the Unit for Communication and Scientific Culture (UC3) of the IAC, which is at the Teide Observatory (Izaña, Tenerife
Advertised on

Massive stars die a spectacular death. The remnant of the Supernova Simeis 147 (also known as Sharpless 2-240 and by the popular name of the Spaghetti Nebula) is situated on the sky between the constellations of Taurus and Auriga. The image was obtained with the “Fotomatón Cósmico”, a remotely controlled astrograph, belonging to the Unit for Communication and Scientific Culture (UC3) of the IAC, which is at the Teide Observatory (Izaña, Tenerife). This image was taken in the framework of the project “NIÉPCE, from the negative to the positive” which pays tribute to Photography.

The angular size on the sky of this supernova remnant is spectacular. If it could be seen with the naked eye it would cover 4 degrees at its greatest diameter, the equivalent of eight Moons lined up side to side. Inside the remnant, though not at its geometrical centre, we find the pulsar PSR J0538+2817, the core of the massive star, which is very dense and rotates very quickly.

There are two estimates of the distance to this nebula. The first puts it some 880 parsec (2,870 light years) away from the Earth, which would mean that Simeis 147 occupies a spherical volume with a diameter between 140 and 200 light years. If we consider that the distance to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is only 4.2 light years, we can imagine the huge dimensions of this astronomical object.

This object is expanding at a velocity of around 100 km/sec and appears to have sufficient energy to emit radiation which includes gamma rays, as measured by the Fermi satellite.

The other distance estimate is bigger, and is based on a measurement of the distance of the PULSAR J0538+2817 as 1.3 kiloparsec (4,240 light years). Recent studies suggest that the massive star which exploded had another, similarly massive, companion star. When it exploded the change in the gravitational configuration caused both objects to be expelled as high speed. The position of the pulsar does not coincide with the geometrical centre of the supernova remnant, which is displaced in the direction opposed to HD 37424, a giant star which had shared the central position some 30,000 years ago.

More information:

·         APOD de la NASA: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170518.html

 

News type
Press release
Scope
Observatorios de Canarias
General public
Communications media

It may interest you

  • Black hole of Andromeda
    Press release
    Observers measure how Andromeda’s central black hole is fed
    A team of scientists led by the Observatory of Munich University and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias have obtained direct visualization of the process of feeding the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Andromeda galaxy. The study reveals the existence of long filamentary structures of gas and dust which move in a spiral starting at a distance from the black hole and ending up at the black hole itself. The results, which have been published in the Astrophysical Journal, were obtained using images from the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The Andromeda Galaxy, which is
    Advertised on
  • Asteroid near Mars
    Press release
    Astronomers confirm a new “Trojan” asteroid that shares an orbit with Mars
    Using observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) a study led from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) has confirmed that the asteroid 2023 FW14, discovered last year, is accompanying the red planet in its journey around the Sun, ahead of Mars and in the same orbit. With this new member, the group of Trojans which accompany Mars has increased in number to 17. But it shows differences in its orbit and chemical composition which may indicate that it is a captured asteroid, of a primitive type. The results are published in
    Advertised on
  • Webb's first deep field
    Press release
    A study suggests that there are galaxies which might be older than the currently accepted age of the universe
    An observationally based study, led by Martín López Corredoira, researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found that certain very distant massive galaxies appear to be older than the limit set by standard cosmology. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, is based on the analysis of data recently obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope of galaxies that existed when the universe was only between 4% and 5% of its present age, according to the accepted standard model of cosmology. The researchers infer that the mean age of some of these galaxies would not be
    Advertised on