Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 March 3
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
      Image Credit: [3]CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA, T.A. Rector (Univ.of
                          Alaska/NSF’s NOIRLab),
  J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s
                                  NOIRLab)

   Explanation: In 185 AD, [4]Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance
   of a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is
   identified with Alpha and Beta Centauri on modern star charts. The new
   star was visible to the naked-eye for months, and is now thought to be
   the earliest [5]recorded supernova. [6]This deep telescopic view
   reveals the wispy outlines of emission nebula RCW 86, just visible
   against the starry background, [7]understood to be the remnant of that
   stellar explosion. Captured by the wide-field [8]Dark Energy Camera
   operating at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, the
   image traces the full extent of a ragged shell of gas ionized by the
   still [9]expanding shock wave. [10]Space-based images indicate an
   abundance of the element iron in RCW 86 and the absence of a neutron
   star or pulsar [11]within the remnant, suggesting that the original
   supernova was Type Ia. [12]Unlike the core collapse supernova explosion
   of a massive star, a [13]Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear
   [14]detonation on a white dwarf star that accretes material from a
   companion in a binary star system. Near the plane of our [15]Milky Way
   galaxy and larger than the full moon on the sky this supernova remnant
   is too faint to be seen by eye though. RCW 86 is some 8,000 light-years
   distant and around 100 light-years across.

              Tomorrow's picture: 10 days of Venus and Jupiter
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC,
                         [36]NASA Science Activation
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/noirlab2307a2048c.jpg
   3. https://noirlab.edu/public/
   4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astronomy
   5. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301603
   6. https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2307a/
   7. https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2307/
   8. https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/
   9. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207
  10. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/rcw86/
  11. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060728.html
  13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110430.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110520.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230302.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230303
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230304.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/