Dusty Celestial Ornaments Dusty Celestial Ornaments: Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Spitzer_ssc2007-20a_1024

spitzer_ssc2007-20a December 20th, 2007

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Rho (Caltech-SSC)

These beautiful bulbs might look like they belong on Christmas trees, but they are actually different Spitzer Space Telescope views of the blown-out remains of a stellar explosion, or supernova. Called Cassiopeia A, this supernova remnant is located about 10,000 light-years away in our own Milky Way galaxy.

The upper left panel is a composite made up of three infrared views shown in the remaining panels. The bottom left view shows argon gas (green) that was synthesized as it was ejected from the star. The bottom right view shows a collection of dust (red), including proto-silicates, silicate dioxide and iron oxide. The fact that these two features line up (as seen in yellow in the combined view) tells astronomers that the dust, together with the gas, was created in the explosion.

This is the best evidence yet that supernovae are a significant source of dust in the early universe -- something that was postulated before, but not proven. Dust in our young universe is important because it eventually made its way into future stars, planets and even people.

The upper right panel shows silicon gas (blue) deep in the interior of the remnant. This cooler gas, called the unshocked ejecta, was also synthesized in the supernova blast.

The data for these images were taken by Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, which splits light apart to reveal the fingerprints of molecules and elements. In total, Spitzer collected separate "spectra" at more than 1,700 positions across Cassiopeia A. Astronomers then created maps from this massive grid of data, showing the remnant in a multitude of infrared colors.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/image/ssc2007-20a-dusty-celestial-ornaments-dusty-celestial-ornaments-supernova-remnant-cassiopeia-a

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

View Options View Options

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cassiopeia A Cas A
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
11,000 light years
Spitzer_ssc2007-20a_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (FK5)
RA = 23h 23m 25.9s
DEC = 58° 49’ 12.0”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
8.0 x 8.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Cassiopeia

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 35.0 µm
Green Spitzer (IRS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 7.0 µm
Red Spitzer (IRS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 21.0 µm
Images constructed from specific wavelengths extracted from 1,700 IRS spectra
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_ssc2007-20a_1280
×
ID
ssc2007-20a
Subject Category
B.4.1.4.  
Subject Name
Cassiopeia A, Cas A
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Rho (Caltech-SSC)
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Distance taken from Fast Facts.
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRS, IRS, IRS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Mid-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
35000, 7000, 21000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
I
Coordinate Frame
FK5
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
350.85800000, 58.82000000
Reference Dimension
240, 240
Reference Pixel
120, 120
Scale
-0.00055556, 0.00055556
Rotation
0.00000
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Scale up by 400%
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2007-20a.tif
Metadata Date
2024-03-20T22:30:26Z
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
11,000 light years

Providers | Sign In