Exploded Star Detailed in New X-ray Image

The Chandra X-ray Observatory has re-imaged a familiar scene of a relatively nearby exploded star, revealing new details of the chaotic aftermath.

The supernova remnant, as it is called, is named Cassiopeia A. It is about 10,000 light-years away.

Source:
www.space.com...

Simply amazing.. I've never seen an exploded star before, I used to be crazy about astronomy, maybe I should get back into checking it out again. Maybe as a hobby.

[edit on 23-8-2004 by Korwatt]

Great picture!
Supernova explosions are truly amazing!

The rich detail has already paid off. Astronomers spotted previously unseen jets of material shooting in opposite directions ahead of the main, expanding cloud of material. The jets reach about 10 light-years from the neutron star.
"The presence of the bipolar jets suggests that jets could be more common in relatively normal supernova explosions than supposed by astronomers," said Una Hwang of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

May be detailed observations such as these will help scientists to find out the real process causing these fast-moving jets. The neutron star/black hole must be moving so fast that it can throw the gas around at almost the speed of light. The jets/rings of SN1987A were also interesting.

Chandra first imaged the exploded remains five years ago as its initial target after being launched into orbit. That exposure lasted about 90 minutes.

Here is the old picture (August 1999). Not many details here:
external image
Source: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...
Official release: www1.msfc.nasa.gov...
You can see the dense neutron star in the middle.
Other pictures of CasA:
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...

I used to be interested in astronomy too, I want to get back into it but I can't..

If I saw a comet streaming through the air that would be simply amazing.