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。 - z6 ^; c1 g. i9 v% J0 V+ R+ p! a
Astronomers have for the first time obtained a 3D view of the aftermath of a star exploding (which is known as a supernova).
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" A% L. e4 ~. A: i' G5 z The team used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to study the supernova 1987A, which lies 168,000 light-years away.% H$ N* R! s k. t% x2 A b: `5 u* I
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The results show the original blast was very powerful and concentrated in one particular direction.
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Seen in 1987, it was the first supernova visible with the naked eye to have been observed for some 383 years.# I, G% B) H7 o' T& K# F
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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.* V% }9 ?% O- j$ a1 c4 Q
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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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& [* \5 V! |8 r The observations of SN 1987A were made using the SINFONI instrument on the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.- }& n; ~' X4 d! c9 w
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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.. J1 f* K$ N' w8 V
7 M p1 M6 n* P' J8 h. r 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.
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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.5 g0 k" j) S; \# K$ V; f; a) b
1 B# L! W& @; S/ L The research is to be published in the academic journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. |
发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:39
