When half of a binary system drop dead supernova , usually that means a very bad day for the remaining star . But DEM L241 is tougher than that , pull round the astronomic fire to shine another day .
The optical simulacrum is a mess of gas and rubble ( yellow and cyan ) capture by Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey ( MCELS ) ground - based telescopes in Chile , layered with champion ( lily-white ) from the Digitized Sky Survey .
late image in the x - ray band taken by NASA ’s Chandra X - Ray Observatory reveal something new : a niggling pinprick of light in a haze of ionized gas ( purple ) . This pinprick is the intact familiar virtuoso of the binary organization , now mate with the supernova end either a neutron star or a disgraceful hole . The gasoline incorporate the usual mix of neutral and ionized hydrogen , but is also enrich in atomic number 8 , magnesium , and atomic number 10 .
The surviving star is much larger than our sunlight . That , along with the throttle composition , indicate the wizard that go supernova was somewhere 25 to 40 times larger than our sun . They orb with a period of approximately 10 days , although the velocity of the survivor star is interchange .
The South African Astronomical Observatory ’s 1.9 - measure telescope is continuing to observe the system of rules , tracking the speed variations the companion star in an exploit to determine if the supernova remnant is a neutron star or a disgraceful hole .
The original supernova took post a few million years ago ; the fellow traveller champion should also die by a supernova sometime in the next few million age . When it does , it , too , will leave behind a leftover of either a neutron star or a black hole .
Read more at the Chandrapress release , or the full articleDEM L231 , a Supernova Remnant hold back a High - Mass X - ray Binary .
Chandra
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