Scientists discovered Supernova 1987A more than 25 years ago, and have studied it ever since, watching it in hopes of learning more about supernovas. Now, a team of researchers made a momentous discovery. Using two highly-sensitive telescopes, a team of researchers was able to see into the center of the supernova's remnants to find what might be a pulsar wind nebula underneath all the debris. Telescopes now are much more sophisticated than they were in 1987, and scientists are able to learn much more about the supernova now than they were in the past.
A team of researchers from Australia just published their findings about the supernova today, on November 11, in the journal Astrophysical. The team used the highly-sensitive Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope located in Chile and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in Wales to study the remnants of the supernova.
Giovanna Zanardo, one of the researchers who worked on this project, said that the team was able to get a better read on the supernova's remnant by combining data from the two telescopes. The team used both of the telescopes to be able to tell the difference between the radiation emitted by the supernova's expanding shock wave from the radiation caused by dust forming in the inner region of the supernova's remnant.
"This is important because it means we're able to separate out the different types of emission we're seeing and look for signs of a new object which may have formed when the star's core collapsed. It's like doing a forensic investigation into the death of a star," Zanardo said.
Using the new telescopes, the team found something that no scientist has ever been able to see before in Supernova 1987A: something in the center of the remnant, which might be a pulsar wind nebula. Scientists have tried to see to the center of this supernova since 1987, and now a team of researchers has finally been successful.
A supernova is the result of the explosion of a star. Supernovas shine brightly for a short time, and then fade out. Supernova 1987A was close enough to the Earth that it could be seen by the naked eye, for a time. It was discovered in a dwarf galaxy.
