Webb observes the universe in wavelengths of infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. In each image, certain features stand out that are invisible in the other. The remnant stretches for about 10 light-years across, or 60 trillion miles (96.6 trillion kilometers).īut the image looks completely different from one taken by Webb in April using the telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. As the youngest known supernova remnant in our galaxy, the celestial object has been studied by a multitude of ground- and space-based telescopes. The light from Cassiopeia A first reached Earth about 340 years ago. A light-year, equivalent to 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers), is how far a beam of light travels in one year. Cassiopeia A is located 11,000 light-years away in the Cassiopeia constellation. Swirls of gas and dust are all that remain of the star that went supernova 10,000 years ago. This is the closest look we’ve had at a supernova in our galaxy.” The energies, their chemical abundances - there is so much that depends on our understanding of supernovae. “Supernovae are primary drivers of cosmological evolution. “We’ve never had this kind of look at an exploded star before,” said astronomer Dan Milisavljevic, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University, in a statement.
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