A colorful mixture of gas and dust: this is what’s left of the explosion of Cassiopeia A, the supernova ‘tracking’ the space telescope James Webb.

The light of a star appeared in the earth’s sky 340 years ago. This is the youngest known supernova in our galaxy, and for this reason it is actively studied both on Earth and with the help of space telescopes.

Cassiopeia A is located at a distance of 11,000 light years in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Its fragments are about 10 light-years across.

Star showdown

By studying a star, scientists are trying to learn more about how stellar flares happen. So they took advantage of the brand new Webb telescope with its infrared capabilities. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, so James Webb can reveal invisible aspects of the cosmos.

Stars: always a dramatic departure! 🌟

Webb’s powerful infrared eye captured never-before-seen details of Cassiopeia A (Cas A). At 11,000 light years away, it is the remnant of a massive star that exploded about 340 years ago: https://t.co/LLQsFQJwVQ pic.twitter.com/xqlGFzhYoy

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 7, 2023

“Cassiopeia A is our best chance to study the debris of the exploded star and perform a kind of star dissection to understand what star was there before and how it exploded,” said Danny Milisavlevich, Purdue University assistant professor and principal investigator. program.

“Compared to previous infrared images, we see incredible details that we didn’t have access to before,” adds Princeton researcher and astronomer Thea Temime.

“Green Monster”

The infrared image of Cassiopeia A obtained by the Webb telescope was “translated” into light visible to the human eye. The reds and oranges on the outside of the star reflect hot dust where the star’s material was ejected before the explosion and collided with other gas and dust around it.

Inside the “bubble” we see a light pink color along with formations resembling knots and lumps. This is a material from an explosion that includes heavy elements such as argon, neon and oxygen.

The interest of scientists was caused by a green formation to the right of the “bubble”.

“We named it Green Beast. If you look closely, you will notice that it is filled with what looks like mini bubbles. The form and complexity are unexpected and difficult to understand,” Milisavlevich comments.

And he concludes: “Understanding the process of a star’s explosion is like reading the story of our own origins.”

According to CNN

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