Post by glactus on Sept 27, 2008 6:58:39 GMT
Back in 2001, astronomer Franz Bauer noticed a bright, variable source in the Circinus spiral galaxy, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Although the source displayed some exceptional properties Bauer and his Penn State colleagues could not identify its nature confidently at the time. But now, seven years later Bauer and his team have confirmed this object was a supernova.
By combining online data in the public archives from 18 different ground- and space-based telescopes, one of the nearest supernovae in the last 25 years, SN1996cr, has finally been identified.
The data show that SN 1996cr is among the brightest supernovae ever seen in radio and X-rays. Visible-light images from the archives of the Anglo-Australian Telescope in Australia show that SN 1996cr exploded sometime between 28 February 1995 and 15 March 1996, but it is the only one of the five nearest supernovae of the last 25 years that was not seen shortly after the explosion.
“This supernova appears to be a wild cousin of SN 1987A,” says Bauer. “The two look alike in many ways, except this newer supernova is intrinsically a thousand times brighter in radio and X-rays.”
M 106
Credits : This is part text only. See image, full text and all scientists involved at universetoday.com
www.universetoday.com/2008/09/25/internet-astronomy-uncovers-supernova/
Article presenter:Nancy Atkinson