An artist’s impression of a pulsar wind nebula at the heart of the SN 1987A supernova remnant. Image: Chandra (X-ray): NASA/CXC/Univ. di Palermo/E. Greco; Illustration: INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo/Salvatore Orlando
On 24 February 1987, a star exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the first supernova visible to the unaided eye in nearly 400 years. Known as SN 1987A, the spectacular blast generated world-wide interest as astronomers scrambled to study the aftermath of the explosion some 170,000 light years from Earth.
Now, more than three decades after the fact, astronomers may have finally found signs of the collapsed remnant of the doomed star in multiple observations suggesting the presence of a “pulsar wind nebula” made up of charged particles and magnetic fields generated by a spinning neutron star.
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Reclusive Neutron Star Thought Found among Debris of Famous Supernova
Astronomers now have evidence from two X-ray telescopes (Chandra and NuSTAR) for a key component of a famous supernova remnant.
Supernova 1987A was discovered on Earth on February 24, 1987, making it the first such event witnessed during the telescopic age.
For decades, scientists have searched for a neutron star in SN 1987A, i.e. a dense collapsed core that should have been left behind by the explosion.
This latest study shows that a pulsar wind nebula created by such a neutron star may be present.
Credit: NASA s Chandra X-ray Observatory
The star that blew up was massive, probably about 20 times the mass of the Sun. When a star like that reaches the end of its life it blows a series of powerful winds of gas that surround it. Some tens of thousands of years later the core of the star collapses, setting up an immense explosion that blasts away its outer layers: Supernova.
The collapsing core of a massive star can become either a black hole or an incredibly dense neutron star. In this case, it should ve formed the latter.
Video of Animation of a spinning pulsar
pulsars. They re usually pretty obvious (like a baby screaming on an airplane; the source isn t too tough to spot). But in this case, despite intense searches for over three decades, no neutron star has been found.