在智利用大望远镜观看距离地球168,000光年的超新星爆炸会是怎样的景象呢?科学家又有怎样的发现呢?我们一起来看看吧。 M: |9 ~# P8 B& J+ X
Astronomers have for the first time obtained a 3D view of the aftermath of a star exploding (which is known as a supernova).; c q. _+ k1 F5 a S
" z( x5 j; ]1 c* U1 B The team used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to study the supernova 1987A, which lies 168,000 light-years away.
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' A+ ~! K4 M" e7 _$ B# z The results show the original blast was very powerful and concentrated in one particular direction.6 I8 K% M4 d' c+ p4 r' x
. f" X2 n% I* o- d& t Seen in 1987, it was the first supernova visible with the naked eye to have been observed for some 383 years.# k7 X$ t4 j9 V1 W" l! y) A
$ m9 a9 K" i# d P The 3-D view shows the explosion was stronger and faster in some directions than others, leading to an irregular shape with some parts stretching further out into space.! ^3 D! b0 f; e0 ?- D5 c2 j
! B5 i: Q- Y* f# @, R This phenomenon was predicted by some of the most recent computer models of supernovae, which found that large-scale instabilities take place during the explosion.
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( G/ E! t) V& Z8 } The observations of SN 1987A were made using the SINFONI instrument on the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.0 { q" b* [% q l8 v% B* X4 J' _
& p9 B! e- _; o. m7 Q The first material to be ejected from the explosion travelled at 100 million km per hour, which is about 100,000 times faster than a passenger jet.$ ~6 M0 O* r9 O- y5 n
: U1 J0 t, x$ A2 a1 F$ G$ R* E Even at this incredible speed it has taken 10 years to reach a previously existing ring of gas and dust puffed out by the star while it was dying.0 j2 J) w$ m1 i3 i+ I& q; F. W
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The images also show another wave of material is travelling ten times more slowly and is being heated by radioactive elements created in the explosion.8 S [! w' f; P. g
$ G! V& M- Y& x: O The research is to be published in the academic journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. |