An optical image from the Digitized Sky Survey (pale yellow and blue) shows stars in the field.
The Kepler supernova was a Type Ia event, the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf.
New analysis suggests that the supernova explosion was not only more powerful, but might have also occurred at a greater distance, than previously thought.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D.Patnaude, Optical: DSS
Astronomers have long studied the Kepler supernova remnant and tried to determine exactly what happened when the star exploded to create it.
New analysis of a long observation from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is providing more clues.
This analysis suggests that the supernova explosion was not only more powerful, but might have also occurred at a greater distance, than previously thought.
This image shows the Chandra data derived from more than 8 days worth of observing time. The X-rays are shown in five colours from lower to higher energies: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
These various X-ray slices were then combined with an optical image from the Digitized Sky Survey, showing stars in the field.
Previous analysis of this Chandra image has determined that the stellar explosion that created Kepler was what astronomers call a "Type Ia" supernova.
This class of supernovas occurs when a white dwarf gains mass, either by pulling gas off a companion star or merging with another white dwarf, until it becomes unstable and is destroyed by a thermonuclear explosion.
Unlike other well-known Type Ia supernovas and their remnants, Kepler's debris field is being strongly shaped by what it is running into.
More specifically, most Type Ia supernova remnants are very symmetrical, but the Kepler remnant is asymmetrical with a bright arc of X-ray emission in its northern region.
This indicates the expanding ball of debris from the supernova explosion is plowing into the gas and dust around the now-dead star.
Read more in the AstroPhysical Journal
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