Supernova Dust Factory in M74

Spitzer_sig06-018_1024

spitzer_sig06-018 June 8th, 2006

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a "dust factory" thirty million light-years away in the spiral galaxy M74. The factory is located at the scene of a massive star's explosive death, or supernova.

While astronomers have suspected for years that supernovae could be producers of cosmic dust particles, the technology to confirm this suspicion has only recently become available.

The dust factory, also known as supernova SN 2003gd, is shown at the center of the two small insets from Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). A white arrow points to its exact location. The yellow-green dot shown in the July 2004 inset (top) shows that the source's temperature is warmer than the surrounding material. This is because newly formed dust within the supernova is just starting to cool. By January 2005, the dust had cooled and completely faded from IRAC's view. However, it was still detected in January 2005 by another instrument aboard Spitzer called the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The MIPS image is not shown here.

The larger image to the right of the insets is the galaxy M74, as seen by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera. The white box to the left of the galaxy's center identifies the location of the supernova remnant. In all the images, the blue dots represent hot gas and stars. The galaxy's cool dust is shown in red.

The images are infrared composites, in which 3.6-micron light is blue, 4.5-micron light is green, and 8-micron light is red.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2249-sig06-018-Supernova-Dust-Factory-in-M74

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Messier 74 M74 NGC 628 Supernova 2003gd
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Supernova

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
30,000,000 light years
Spitzer_sig06-018_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 1h 36m 41.8s
DEC = 15° 47’ 0.4”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
10.0 x 10.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_sig06-018_1280
×
ID
sig06-018
Subject Category
C.5.1.1.   C.4.1.4.   C.3.1.8.  
Subject Name
Messier 74, M74, NGC 628, Supernova 2003gd
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)
Release Date
2006-06-08
Lightyears
30,000,000
Redshift
0.002192
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2249-sig06-018-Supernova-Dust-Factory-in-M74
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
24.17411892647814, 15.783438481340163
Reference Dimension
2325, 2329
Reference Pixel
1162, 1164
Scale
-7.15493675624574E-05, 7.15493675624574E-05
Rotation
0
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig06-018.tif
Metadata Date
2012-10-11
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
30,000,000 light years

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