Indian Scientists Discovers Remnants Of Youngest Supernova

PUNE: Scientists of the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) and Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP), Kolkata, have discovered one of the youngest supernova remnants in the Milky Way. The phenomenon of a star exploding to its death is called supernova.

In the latest discovery, the scientists concluded from the size of the remnants that the supernova occurred only a few hundred years ago, making it one of the youngest known supernova remnants. The study was published in the September issue of The Astrophysical Journal of the American Astronomical Society.

The scientists — Subhasis Roy of NCRA and Sabyasachi Pal from ICSP — used the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) facility at Khodad, about 80 km from Pune, for this study, which took them a decade.

The discovery is significant as search for supernova remnants is a topic of great interest the world over. Only 270 of an estimated 1,000 supernovas have been discovered so far. Scientists have also said that in 400 years, about a dozen supernovas would have taken place, but only two have been discovered till date.

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The scientists spotted the supernova remnants in the centre of the Earth's galaxy. They said it was a challenge to spot the supernova remnants because of its size. Pal said, "The supernova remnants we discovered were small in size, but the radio telescopes in GMRT made it possible for us to conduct the study effectively."

The scientists have not been able to find the exact number of years when the supernova remnants wer created as its distance from Earth is not known. Pal said, "We are still working on finding the exact distance of the supernova remnants from Earth. Once we find this, we will be able to tell the exact age." ...

Source: Times Of India
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- Unknown Updated at: Saturday, October 19, 2013