Astronomers now know the source is a neutron star 11,000 light years from Earth at the centre of the supernova Cassiopeia A. It is the youngest object of its kind ever discovered, having appeared just 330 years ago.
Neutron stars are the super-dense compact cores of massive stars whose outer shells have been blasted away in violent explosions at the end of their lives.
Compressed tightly by gravity, they are composed almost entirely of neutrons, sub-atomic particles with no electric charge that form part of atoms.
One teaspoonful of material from a neutron star would weigh a billion tonnes.
The newly identified neutron star has a unique atmosphere of carbon just centimetres thick.
Britain's first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, is believed to have observed the supernova that spawned it in 1680.
Astronomers studied the supernova using the Chandra X-ray space telescope launched by the American space agency Nasa in 1999.
Every other neutron star identified by scientists has been much older.
It is hoped the object will reveal more clues about the role exploding stars play in building the universe.
Heavy elements flung out into space by supernovae end up in the rocks of planets such as the Earth. Even the human body is largely composed of stardust.
Professor Craig Heinke, from the University of Alberta in Canada, who co-led the new research published in the journal Nature, said: ''The discovery helps us understand how neutron stars are born in violent supernova explosions.
''This neutron star was born so hot that nuclear fusion happened on its surface, producing a carbon atmosphere just 10 centimetres thick.''
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6501955/Infant-neutron-star-observed-fo...
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- News, Max and Jason: Still Up, Space, Weird Science, 2 more
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- copperdragon
- added this
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Wow, the universe is more interesting every day.
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"One teaspoonful of material from a neutron star would weigh a billion tons."
"Even the human body is largely composed of stardust."It kind of makes you realize how small and insignificant we are in comparison to the entire universe.
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- lifestudentno83
- 14 days ago
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A "fresh" neutron star. That certainly grabs the imagination.
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This is awesome, stuff like this is so exciting.
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amazing what goes on in the universe.....- Very!
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"Even the human body is largely composed of stardust."
Not quite true. The only way to make atoms bigger then carbon is in a super nova and even the elements smaller then that can only be forged in the cores of active stars. A more appropriate way to say it would be:
"The human body along with all the plants, oceans, mountains, and planets in the whole Universe are made entirely of stardust."
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We are stardust and nonbiodegradable food preservatives. The last part doesn't rhyme so well in songs.
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WOW !
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I just wonder... what in the world does it actually look like? I somehow imagine it completely black, nearly in observable because of it.
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- lifeinaraindrop
- 14 days ago
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It's so amazing to think that we might actually find something out there that answers the age old question, "How did we get here?" can't wait.
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- MindofMine
- 14 days ago
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I love this stuff. Makes me feel so insignificant, and I like that feeling.
Eternity is what I call 11000 light years. Its so vast a space it makes my brain hurt thinking about it.
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There's a new sci-fi/horror book coming out that explains what actually happened in the creation of "Cassiopeia A," and much more, as part of the story.
One might wonder, "How can a sci-fi/horror story explain the actuality of anything?"
Hmmmmm........ one must read "The Cassiopeia Stone" to answer that question!
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- EARTHMAN911
- 13 days ago
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I would love for another supernova to happen in our galaxy, just for the view from earth.
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"Heavy elements flung out into space by supernovae end up in the rocks of planets such as the Earth. Even the human body is largely composed of stardust."
Interconnectedness, ya dig?
