Riding a Blast Wave!
This brilliant streak of light is a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast wave, as spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope. The blast, which is about 2,400 light-years away, was from a supernova explosion that tore apart a dying star 20 times more massive than our sun between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; CC BY 4.0;
Acknowledgement: Leo Shatz
“Cosmic Canyon,” Mark Basarab Photography
This artist’s view shows the moments before and the nine days following a kilonova. Two neutron stars spiral inward, creating gravitational waves (pale arcs). After the merger, a jet produces gamma rays (magenta), while expanding radioactive debris makes ultraviolet (violet), optical (blue-white) and infrared (red) light.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab
Netron star collision merger gravitational wave illustration
An artist's conception of a shock wave from a supernova.
Credit Greg Stewart, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
