London: Huge balls of fire, 10,000 times
hotter than the sun, that were unleashed by a supernova in one
of the most powerful explosions in the universe have been
discovered.
The Japanese Suzaku space observatory has captured the
unusual features that were detected in the Jellyfish Nebula
(IC 443), 5,000 light years away, The Astrophysical Journal
reported.
"This is the first evidence of a new type of supernova
remnant - one that was heated right after the explosion," said
team leader Hiroya Yamaguchi at the Institute of Physical and
Chemical Research in Japan.
The remnant of a supernova usually cools quickly due to
rapid expansion following the explosion. It gradually heats up
again as it sweeps up tenuous interstellar gas over thousands
of years.
The astronomers found evidence in the Suzaku spectrum
that indicated large amounts of silicon and sulphur atoms from
which all electrons had been stripped away. This requires
temperatures higher than 17 million degree Celsius and so
could only have been created immediately after the supernova
explosion.
"Suzaku sees the Jellyfish's hot heart," team member
Midori Ozawa said.
Remnants from giant fireballs unleashed by a supernova
are still glowing at temperatures 10,000 times hotter than the
Sun thousands of years after the event, they added.
The phenomenon was picked up in the x-ray spectrum.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 01, 2010, 15:27