Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

Chandra's images show expanding shells of gas heated to millions of degrees by shock waves from supernova explosions. Moving in a clockwise direction from the upper left to the lower left, the approximate ages of the remnants are 600 years, 1,500 years, 10,000 years and 13,000 years, respectively. X-ray spectra indicate that the objects on the upper left, upper right and lower right are the remnants of Type Ia supernovas that completely disrupted a white dwarf star. In contrast, the remnant on the lower left was produced by a Type II supernova resulting from the gravitational collapse of a massive star. The explosion left behind a rapidly spinning neutron star that is ejecting a magnetized wind of extremely high-energy particles. This energetic wind appears in the image as the elongated, bright blue-white spot at the center of the remnant.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/4snr/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html