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. 2023 March 3 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant Image Credit: [3]CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA, T.A. Rector (Univ.of Alaska/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) Explanation: In 185 AD, [4]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 to the naked-eye for months, and is now thought to be the earliest [5]recorded supernova. [6]This deep telescopic view reveals the wispy outlines of emission nebula RCW 86, just visible against the starry background, [7]understood to be the remnant of that stellar explosion. Captured by the wide-field [8]Dark Energy Camera operating at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, the image traces the full extent of a ragged shell of gas ionized by the still [9]expanding shock wave. [10]Space-based images indicate an abundance of the element iron in RCW 86 and the absence of a neutron star or pulsar [11]within the remnant, suggesting that the original supernova was Type Ia. [12]Unlike the core collapse supernova explosion of a massive star, a [13]Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear [14]detonation on a white dwarf star that accretes material from a companion in a binary star system. Near the plane of our [15]Milky Way galaxy and larger than the 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: 10 days of Venus and Jupiter __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC, [36]NASA Science Activation & [37]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/noirlab2307a2048c.jpg 3. https://noirlab.edu/public/ 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astronomy 5. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301603 6. https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2307a/ 7. https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2307/ 8. https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/ 9. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207 10. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/rcw86/ 11. https://arxiv.org/abs/1108.1207 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060728.html 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110430.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110520.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230302.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230303 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230304.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 37. http://www.mtu.edu/