Hubble image archive
Supernova Remnant 1E 0102 Annotated
Hubble Portrait of Expanding Supernova Remnant Shows Path of Speedy Ejecta This Hubble Space Telescope image outlines the direction of high-speed ejecta flung from a titanic supernova blast approximately 1,700 years ago. The stellar corpse, a supernova remnant named 1E 0102.2-721...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2021
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2021-002-01ewzpm6pf5c57shzcgn9pjdgh
Hubble Portrait of Expanding Supernova Remnant Shows Path of Speedy Ejecta
This Hubble Space Telescope image outlines the direction of high-speed ejecta flung from a titanic supernova blast approximately 1,700 years ago.
The stellar corpse, a supernova remnant named 1E 0102.2-7219, met its demise in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
The image shows ribbons of glowing gaseous clumps speeding away from the explosion site at an average speed of 2 million miles per hour. At that velocity, you could travel to the Moon and back in 15 minutes.
This color-composite image was assembled from separate exposures through red, green, and blue filters, which capture the glow of ionized oxygen.
Because the gaseous knots are moving at different speeds and directions from the supernova explosion, those moving toward Earth are colored blue in this composition and the ones moving away are red.
Researchers plumbed the Hubble archive for visible-light images of the supernova remnant. They analyzed the data to calculate a more accurate estimate of the age and site of the supernova blast.
The Small Magellanic Cloud, located roughly 200,000 light-years away, is visible in the southern hemisphere.
This image is a blend of exposures taken in 2014 by the Wide Field Camera 3.
Credits
Image
NASA, ESA, STScI, John Banovetz (Purdue University), Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SNR 1E 0102.2-7219 |
| Object Description | Supernova remnant |
| R.A. Position | 01:04:01.2 |
| Dec. Position | -72:01:52 |
| Constellation | Tucana |
| Distance | The object lies roughly 200,000 light-years away from Earth. |
| Dimensions | Image is approximately 1.4 arcminutes across (84 light-years). |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (D. Milisavljevic) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | 13-14 May 2014 |
| Filters | F467M; FQ492N; F502N; F657N; F665N; FQ508N; F673N |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F467M+FQ492N Green: F502N+F657N Yellow: F665N Red: FQ508N; F673N |
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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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