| 25th of January 2019 |
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| ASKAP imaging of a supernova remnant |
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The image above shows, at left, an ASKAP image of SN 1006,
the remnant
of a supernova which was observed on Earth in the year 1006 AD.
The right hand image is a Chandra X-ray image of the same supernova remnant.
As described in
last October's ASKAP Commissioning Update,
SN 1006 provides a test of ASKAP’s ability to
detect diffuse and polarised emission. The supernova
remnant’s radio shell fits neatly into one ASKAP beam and
is known to exhibit interesting polarisation characteristics
in observations made with the Very Large Array.
Aside from what is likely a
background radio galaxy jet on the left of the 912 MHz ASKAP image, the
two show remarkably similar structures.
(Image credit: Emil Lenc)
The historical evidence for SN 1006 being a supernova were summarised in 1965 by Goldstein (Astronomical Journal, vol. 70, p. 105). which led Frank Gardner and Doug Milne to use the Parkes telescope to identify the remnant of SN1006 with the polarized, extended radio source 1459−41. As Monday is a public holiday in Australia, the next ADAP will be Tuesday 29th January. |