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Credit & Copyright: J. English
(U. Manitoba) &
K. Gasealahwe
(U. Cape Town),
SARAO,
MeerKAT,
ThunderKAT;
Science: K. Gasealahwe,
K. Savard
(U. Oxford)
et al.;
Text: J. English & K. Savard
Explanation:
How soon do jets form when a supernova gives birth to a neutron star?
The Africa Nebula provides clues.
This supernova remnant surrounds
Circinus X-1, an
X-ray emitting
neutron star and the companion star it orbits.
The image, from the
ThunderKAT collaboration on the
MeerKAT
radio telescope situated in
South Africa, shows the bright
core-and-lobe structure of
Cir X-1Ás currently active
jets inside the nebula.
A mere 4600 years old, Cir X-1 could be the "Little Sister" of
microquasar
SS 433*.
However, the newly discovered bubble exiting from a ring-like hole in the upper right
of the nebula, along with a ring to the bottom left, demonstrate that other jets
previously existed.
Computer simulations indicate those jets formed within 100 years of the
explosion and lasted up to 1000 years.
Surprisingly, to create the observed bubble,
the jets need to be more powerful than
young neutron stars were previously thought to produce.
Open Science:
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: neutron star - jet
Publications with words: neutron star - jet
See also:
- APOD: 2025 May 9 Á IXPE Explores a Black Hole Jet
- APOD: 2025 April 9 Á HH 49: Interstellar Jet from Webb
- APOD: 2024 October 1 Á Porphyrion: The Longest Known Black Hole Jets
- The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
- APOD: 2024 May 7 Á Black Hole Accreting with Jet
- APOD: 2023 September 19 Á HH 211: Jets from a Forming Star
- Stars, Dust, Pillars, and Jets in the Pelican Nebula