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IMAGE: This composite image of X-ray data from Chandra (blue) and radio emission from the Very Large Array (red) contains the first evidence for a rare type of supernova in the. view more
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Nanjing Univ./P. Zhou et al. Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
Astronomers may have found our galaxy s first example of an unusual kind of stellar explosion. This discovery, made with NASA s Chandra X-ray Observatory, adds to the understanding of how some stars shatter and seed the universe with elements critical for life on Earth.
This intriguing object, located near the center of the Milky Way, is a supernova remnant called Sagittarius A East, or Sgr A East for short. Based on Chandra data, astronomers previously classified the object as the remains of a massive star that exploded as a supernova, one of many kinds of exploded stars that scientists have catalogued.