First Observational Evidence of Hypernovae
The giant Pinwheel Galaxy M101 (on right), in the constellation Ursa Major, is home to two hypernova remnants, NGC5471B and MF83 -- the first such remnants ever identified. A hypernova explosion, the possible source of powerful gamma-ray bursts, is about a hundred times more energetic than a supernova explosion and is thus the most energetic event known in the Universe other than the Big Bang. Remnant NGC5471B (top left) is rapidly expanding at a velocity of at least 100 miles per second. Remnant MF83 (bottom left) is over 850 light-years across and is one of the largest nova remnants known.
Neither remnants can be seen in optical light; they are only visible in X-ray light and in emission lines from some specific atomic activity. The image of M101 shown here is a combination of optical observations (in blue) and x-ray observations (in red). (Note: pc = parsec; kpc = kiloparsec or 1,000 parsecs; 1 parsec = 3.26 lightyears)
Photo credit: Y.-H. Chu, R. Fesen, D. Matonick, & Q. D. Wang
M101 (on right) -- X-ray data (in red) from ROSAT; optical data (in blue) from the Paloma Sky Survey Plate.
NGC5471B (top left) -- Composite false-color image with the HST WFPC-2, by You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Daniel Wang (Northwestern University).
MF83 (bottom left) -- Composite false-color image produced by Q. D. Wang based on observations made by D. Matonick & R. Fesen with the McGraw-Hill Telescope at the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT (MDM) Observatory.
The giant Pinwheel Galaxy M101, in the constellation Ursa Major, is home to two hypernova remnants, NGC5471B and MF83. The Pinwheel Galaxy is quite similar to our Milky Way and is about 15 million light years away.
Credit: Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope; AURA/NOAO/NSF
Credit: Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope; George Jacoby, AURA/NOAO/NSF
Composite false-color image with the HST WFPC-2, by You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Daniel Wang (Northwestern University).
Composite false-color image produced by Q. D. Wang based on observations made by D. Matonick & R. Fesen with the McGraw-Hill Telescope at the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT (MDM) Observatory
