Striking new images of unique supernova remnant reveal pearl-like chains

The only known supernova remnant of its kind in the Milky Way has an unexpectedly intricate structure: chains of gas knots resembling pearls on a string, each wide enough to fit the solar system multiple times. Using the Gemini North telescope, an international team co-led by Ilaria Caiazzo, assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), captured the most detailed view yet of Pa 30, revealing striking new features of the.

First identified in 2013 by a citizen scientist, the supernova remnant nebula Pa 30 was later linked to a historical stellar explosion witnessed and recorded independently in Japanese, Chinese and Arabic historical sources in 1181. Using NOIRLab's Gemini North telescope, an international team of astronomers co-led by Tim Cunningham from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Caiazzo, assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), has now revealed the most.

Their findings: What appeared to be smooth "firework" streaks are actually chains of knots resembling pearls on a string, each wide enough to fit 10 times the orbit of Neptune, the outermost planet in our solar system, with room to spare. At about 7, 500 light-years away, Pa 30 is relatively close to Earth by astronomical standards, much nearer than the center of the Milky Way, about 26, 000 light-years away.

Researchers have proposed that Pa 30 resulted from a collision between two white dwarfs, extremely dense, Earth-sized stellar remnants that have exhausted their fuel and shed their outer layers. We can see this much detail because of Pa 30's proximity to Earth," says Caiazzo.

Today, we are lucky to study an intriguing object we know was observed by astronomers who made three independent historical records of the event centuries before the invention of the telescope. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100, 000 subscribers who rely on Phys. org for daily insights.

The planetary region of our solar system could fit in each knot about 10 times with room to spare," says Caiazzo.

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