SN 1006: A supernova remnant whose progenitor explosion was seen from Earth over a thousand years ago.
A long Chandra observation reveals SN 1006 supernova remnant in exquisite detail. By overlapping ten different pointings of Chandra's field-of-view, astronomers have stitched together a cosmic tapestry of the debris field that was created when a white dwarf star exploded, sending its material hurtling into space as seen from Earth over a millennium ago. In this new Chandra image, low, medium, and higher-energy X-rays are colored red, green, and blue respectively. Since SN 1006 belongs to the class of supernovas used to measure the expansion of the Universe, the new Chandra data provide insight into these important objects.
Scale: Image is 34 arcmin across. (about 70 light years)
Image credit: NASA/CXC/Middlebury College/F.Winkler
Note: For more information, see SN 1006: X-Ray View of A Thousand-Year-Old Cosmic Tapestry.
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