Hubble Space Telescope picture of supernova residue DEM L 190. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, S. Kulkarni, Y. Chu
In this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shreds of the luridly colored supernova residue DEM L 190 seem to ripple throughout the screen. The intricate filaments and delicate sheets are debris from the catastrophic death of a massive star that as soon as resided in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. DEM L 190– also called LMC N49– is the brightest supernova residue in the Large Magellanic Cloud and lies roughly 160,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado.
The first of the two WFPC2 examinations used DEM L 190 as a natural laboratory in which to study the interaction of supernova remnants and the interstellar medium, the tenuous mix of gas and dust that lies in between stars. In the 2nd project, astronomers turned to Hubble to determine the origin of a Soft Gamma-ray Repeater, an enigmatic things hiding in DEM L 190 which repeatedly releases high-energy bursts of gamma rays.
This Hubble Space Telescope image of supernova residue DEM L 190 was released in 2003. Resembling the puffs of smoke and sparks from a summer season fireworks show, these delicate filaments are in fact sheets of debris from a stellar surge in a neighboring galaxy. Hubbles target was a supernova residue within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby, small companion galaxy to the Milky Way noticeable from the southern hemisphere. Signified N 49, or DEM L 190, this remnant is from a huge star that died in a supernova blast whose light would have reached Earth countless years ago. This filamentary product will ultimately be recycled into constructing new generations of stars in the LMC. Our own Sun and planets are built from comparable debris of supernovae that exploded in the Milky Way billions of years ago. Credit: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).
This is not the very first image of DEM L 190 to be launched to the general public– a previous Hubble picture of this supernova remnant was released in 2003 (image above). This brand-new image integrates extra data and enhanced image processing techniques, making this amazing celestial fireworks show much more striking!
In this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shreds of the luridly colored supernova residue DEM L 190 seem to ripple throughout the screen. DEM L 190– also known as LMC N49– is the brightest supernova residue in the Large Magellanic Cloud and lies roughly 160,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado.
The very first of the 2 WFPC2 investigations used DEM L 190 as a natural laboratory in which to study the interaction of supernova residues and the interstellar medium, the tenuous mixture of gas and dust that lies between stars.
By ESA/Hubble
November 27, 2022
