Supernova discovered in Cartwheel galaxy
Click for full image.
Cool image time! In reviewing a December 2021 image of the Cartwheel Galaxy taken by the New Technology Telescope in Chile, astronomers noticed something that was not there in earlier images, a new supernovae.
The photo above, reduced to post here, compares a 2014 image, taken by the Very Large Telescope, with the 2021 photo. In the lower left of the new image is a bright object not in the previous photo.
This event, called SN2021afdx, is a type II supernova, which occurs when a massive star reaches the end of its evolution. Supernovae can cause a star to shine brighter than its entire host galaxy and can be visible to observers for months, or even years — a blink of an eye on astronomical timescales. Supernovae are one of the reasons astronomers say we are all made of stardust: they sprinkle the surrounding space with heavy elements forged by the progenitor star, which may end up being part of later generations of stars, the planets around them and life that may exist in those planets.
Cartwheel is about 500 million light years away, and because of its bright outer ring is one one of the more unusual nearby galaxies.
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Click for full image.
Cool image time! In reviewing a December 2021 image of the Cartwheel Galaxy taken by the New Technology Telescope in Chile, astronomers noticed something that was not there in earlier images, a new supernovae.
The photo above, reduced to post here, compares a 2014 image, taken by the Very Large Telescope, with the 2021 photo. In the lower left of the new image is a bright object not in the previous photo.
This event, called SN2021afdx, is a type II supernova, which occurs when a massive star reaches the end of its evolution. Supernovae can cause a star to shine brighter than its entire host galaxy and can be visible to observers for months, or even years — a blink of an eye on astronomical timescales. Supernovae are one of the reasons astronomers say we are all made of stardust: they sprinkle the surrounding space with heavy elements forged by the progenitor star, which may end up being part of later generations of stars, the planets around them and life that may exist in those planets.
Cartwheel is about 500 million light years away, and because of its bright outer ring is one one of the more unusual nearby galaxies.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Thanks !
Nice IMAGE i
On initial inspection, it appears the outer stars are moving away from the core; because the core is too gravitationally weak? Where is the Dark Matter? Or maybe the core does not have a strong central Black Hole.
And somewhere out there is the Jupiter 2 still trying to reach Alpha Centari
Which image is which? I’m assuming the left image is the latter as it shows sharper details. In that image, I see a yellowish bloom, but I’m not sure. However, as western, non-Jewish people (among whom I am not so blessed by G-d to number myself) read chronologically from left to right, I hesitate to assume the left image is the newer image.
Sarge,
The left picture is the older one from 2014, it’s similar to one taken in 2016 by Hubble.
https://science.nasa.gov/download/file/fid/14223
The cartwheel galaxy is a novelty because it’s so unusual, and it’s a favorite for astronomers to try out their new toys on… Even though the picture taken from Chile recently in 2021 is slightly blurry, it is very clear under the circumstances, of using new optical techniques and technology while looking through “our atmosphere” which always blurs.
You can see a new bright object in the lower left as Zimmerman points out in the article.
At first I thought it could be a new object in our own galaxy but I find it unlikely. The stars in our galaxy are very bright and obvious.
Normally a supernova puts out an abundance of neutron radiation which if they look back through their underground detectors data, they might find they captured an anomaly on the date when it occurred.