Glowing Nebula Turns Out to Be Stellar Cradle
The Vela Junior supernova, also known as RX J0852.0-4622 or G266.2-1.2, exploded a few thousand years ago, leaving behind a bright nebula, but scientists couldn’t tell how far away it was or how big the explosion was. This changed with the discovery of a still-forming star, Ve 7-27. Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have captured the first detailed image of Ve 7-27.
This VLT/MUSE image shows Ve 7-27. Image credit: ESO / Suherli and others.
“This is the first-ever evidence linking a newborn star to the remnants of a supernova,” said Dr. Samar Safi-Harb, an astrophysicist at the University of Manitoba.
“This allows us to settle a decades-long debate and determine how far away Vela Junior is, how big it is and how powerful the explosion really was.”
By analyzing the gas coming out of Ve 7-27, Dr Safi-Harb and his colleagues discovered that it bore the same chemical fingerprint as the material from the Vela Junior supernova.
This match confirms that the two objects are physically connected, allowing astronomers to finally determine the distance of Vela Junior.
Since Ve 7-27 is known to be about 4,500 light years away, so is Vela Junior.
“The gas we observe in this young star bears the same chemical signature as the star that exploded long ago,” Dr Safi-Harb said.
“It’s kind of poetic, these same elements ended up coming to Earth, and now we’re watching them help form a new star.”
The results show that Vela Junior is larger, more energetic and growing faster than scientists previously thought, placing it among the most powerful supernova remnants in our Galaxy.
“A star is superimposed, like an onion,” Dr. Safi-Harb said.
“When it explodes, these layers are scattered throughout space.”
“What we found is that these layers now appear in the jet of a nearby baby star.”
“Beyond solving a long-standing astronomical puzzle, the research offers new insights into how stars evolve, how galaxies become enriched with elements, and how extreme cosmic events continue to shape the Universe to this day.”
The study was published today in the Letters from astrophysical journals.
