August 21, 2020

Kepler supernova remnants (Image NASA/CXC/Univ of Texas at Arlington/M. Millard et al.)

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study on the remnants of the so-called Kepler supernova, formally cataloged as SN 1604. A team of researchers led by Matthew Millard of the University of Texas at Arlington used data collected with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to observe materials moving away from the blast area. 15 “knots” of materials were observed in different periods thanks to their X-ray emissions, and one of them was found to have a speed higher than 37 million km/h, more than twice the average speed, while the shockwave is expanding at around 27 million km/h.