By ESA/Hubble
May 28, 2023
The Hubble Space Telescope, in a study to better comprehend the origins of Type II supernovae, caught this image of the spiral galaxy NGC 298, situated approximately 89 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, C. Kilpatrick
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a picture of the spiral galaxy NGC 298, formerly the site of a Type II supernova, as part of a research study on these star explosions. The investigation looks for to discuss the diversity in Type II supernovae by observing the regions around these occasions, potentially revealing information about the stars history and enduring companion stars.
The spiral nebula NGC 298 indulge in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 298 lies around 89 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus, and appears isolated in this image– just a handful of remote galaxies and foreground stars accompany the lonely galaxy. While NGC 298 seems serene, in 1986 it was host to among astronomys most severe occasions: a disastrous outstanding surge understood as a Type II supernova.
Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys caught NGC 298 as part of an examination into the origins of Type II supernovae. All Type II supernovae are produced by the collapse and subsequent explosion of young, huge stars, but they can produce an amazing diversity of brightnesses and spectral features.
Astronomers think that the diversity of this cosmic firework show may be due to gas and dust being stripped from the stars that will eventually produce Type II supernovae. Observing the area surrounding supernova explosions can expose traces of the progenitor stars history protected in this lost mass, in addition to exposing any buddy stars that endured the supernova. Hubble utilized the short periods in between scheduled observations to explore the aftermath of a variety of Type II supernovae, wishing to piece together the relationship in between Type II supernovae and the stellar systems which trigger them.