Chandra Release - July 30, 2012

Visual Description: SN 1957D in M83

The X-ray image of the galaxy M83 features a supernova as a tiny blue dot, floating in a large sea of bright, glowing red and orange - the galaxy itself.  The main image is from Chandra and it was one of the deepest X-ray observations of a spiral galaxy ever made at the time. The Chandra image is a strongly colored spiral shaped galaxy contrasting against the darker background, made from the low, medium, and high-energy X-rays observed by Chandra in red, green, and blue respectively. The supernova is located near the top of the galaxy at about 11 o’clock and outlined in a box.  In the upper right is an optical image close up showing the boxed area around the supernova.  The closeup in soft blues, pink and white. The new X-ray data from the remnant of SN 1957D provide important information about the nature of this explosion that astronomers think happened when a massive star ran out of fuel and collapsed. The distribution of X-rays with energy suggests that SN 1957D contains a neutron star, a rapidly spinning, dense star formed when the core of a pre-supernova star collapsed. This neutron star, or pulsar, may be producing a cocoon of charged particles moving at close to the speed of light known as a pulsar wind nebula.