Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2022 May 28
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Martin Pugh

   Explanation: In 185 AD, [5]Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance
   of a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is
   identified with Alpha and Beta Centauri on modern star charts. The new
   star was visible for months and is thought to be the earliest
   [6]recorded supernova. This deep image shows emission nebula RCW 86,
   understood to be the remnant of that stellar explosion. The narrowband
   data trace gas ionized by the still [7]expanding shock wave.
   [8]Space-based images indicate an abundance of the element iron and
   lack of a neutron star or pulsar [9]in the remnant, suggesting that the
   original supernova was Type Ia. [10]Unlike the core collapse supernova
   explosion of a massive star, a [11]Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear
   [12]detonation on a a white dwarf star that accretes material from a
   companion in a binary star system. Near the plane of our [13]Milky Way
   galaxy and larger than a full moon on the sky this supernova remnant is
   too faint to be seen by eye though. RCW 86 is some 8,000 light-years
   distant and around 100 light-years across.

                 Tomorrow's picture: a galaxy cluster forms
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
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                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2205/RCW86_MP.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.martinpughastrophotography.space/about
   5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astronomy
   6. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301603
   7. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207
   8. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/rcw86/
   9. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060728.html
  11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110430.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110520.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220527.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220528
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220529.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/