|
Roper et al. have recently compared two Chandra X-ray images to
measure the expansion of a supernova remnant (SNR) in the Large
Magellanic Cloud. The images above show (at left) the X-ray image of
SNR 0509–67.5 in the 0.5–8.0 keV energy range from data taken in the
year 2000, (centre) the X-ray image from 2007, and (right) the
difference image between the 2007 epoch and the 2000 epoch X-ray data.
The difference results in a nearly complete shell, indicating
observable uniform expansion. The colour bar is in units of
photons/s/keV/cm^2. SNR 0509–67.5 (J0509-6731) is a young
(approximately 400 yr old) Type Ia supernova remnant, and Roper et
al. estimate an expansion speed of 7500 +/- 1700 km/s, which is
consistent with an optical expansion study on this object. In
addition, they examine the medium in which the SNR is expanding by
examining the CO and neutral H I gas using radio data obtained from
Mopra, the Australia Telescope Compact Array, and Parkes radio
telescopes. More details are available from
the paper,
published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
|
