Tech Digest

U of M astronomers help exploded star come alive across time and space

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA astronomers led an international team of researchers who have developed a new three-dimensional visualization of the famous Cassiopeia A supernova remnant that gives astrophysicists new clues about how exploding stars form new stars and solar systems. The findings were presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting.

A new three-dimensional model of Cassiopeia A will give astrophysicists new clues about how exploding stars form new stars and solar systems.

Astronomy professor Lawrence Rudnick led the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope observation program that yielded data for the 3-D visualization, which gives researchers a more complete understanding of how this famous supernova explosion and its remnant work.

The groundbreaking 3-D model was created by Tracey DeLaney, a 2004 University of Minnesota Ph.D. graduate in astrophysics who is conducting postdoctoral research at MIT. The model used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based optical telescopes.

In addition to the 3-D simulation, a movie of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was recently released. It shows changes in time never seen before in Cassiopeia A.

Together, these tools will help astrophysicists understand how supernovas seed interstellar gas with heavy elements, heat it with the energy of their radiation, and trigger blast waves that help new stars form.