Night Watch

“Probably no stars will physically hit each other. There’s just so much space between the stars, but when Andromeda collides with us it’ll have a huge impact on the Milky Way. Some things will get thrown into the black hole in the middle, some stars will get ripped off and thrown away into space, so it’ll be dramatic. And the entire night sky will change.” - The Universe S1E9 Alien Galaxies

(Source: galactic-centre, via guspie)

ikenbot:

Three Observatories Shed Light on Newly Discovered Super Nova Remnant

Meet G306.3-0.9. Using the data from NASA’s Swift, the Galactic Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and Chandra X-Ray observatory astrophysicists have been able to detect a never before seen Super Nova Remnant (SNR). The image above displays valuable information using data from these three observatories. Francis Reddy writes for NASA:

While performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxy’s central regions, NASA’s Swift satellite has uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star. Designated G306.3–0.9 after the coordinates of its sky position, the new object ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy.

“Astronomers have previously cataloged more than 300 supernova remnants in the galaxy,” said lead scientist Mark Reynolds, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “Our analysis indicates that G306.3–0.9 is likely less than 2,500 years old, making it one of the 20 youngest remnants identified.”

Astronomers estimate that a supernova explosion occurs once or twice a century in the Milky Way. The expanding blast wave and hot stellar debris slowly dissipate over hundreds of thousands of years, eventually mixing with and becoming indistinguishable from interstellar gas.

Journal Reference: G306.3-0.9: A newly discovered young galactic supernova remnant

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