Unusual Nebula Pa 30

What created this unusual celestial firework? The nebula, dubbed Pa 30, appears in the same sky direction now as a bright “ guest star ” did in the year 1181. Although Pa 30’s filaments look similar to that created by a nova (for example GK Per ), and a planetary nebula (for example NGC 6751 ), some astronomers now propose that it was created by a rare type of supernova: a thermonuclear Type Iax, and so is (also) named SN 1181. In this model, the supernova was not the result of the detonation of a single star, but rather a blast that occurred when two white dwarf stars spiraled together and merged. The blue dot in the center is hypothesized to be a zombie star, the remnant white dwarf that somehow survived this supernova -level explosion. The featured image combines images and data obtained with infrared ( WISE ), visible ( MDM, Pan-STARRS ), and X-ray ( Chandra, XMM ) telescopes. Future observations and analyses may tell us more.

NASA Coverage: Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 April 8