Mysterious ears

1994/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

As the Hubble Telescope was repaired in space, it is sending incredible images. One of them is the one that brought out 1987 the star Supernova A. Because it shows that the star has two large and symmetrical circles or “ears” around its center.

In February 1987, in the Great Cloud of Magellan appeared a very bright spot, certainly the light of the supernova exploded 170,000 years ago (the light has been slow to reach here). Since then astronomers have not removed his eye and his brightness has slowed down. He was explained the gas sphere projected during the explosion (the sphere surrounding the center of the image) and all this has been considered as a logical development of the supernova.

But the ears discovered by Hubble are mysterious. And because these two new gas spheres cannot be easily solved. American researcher Christopher Burrows has suggested that both “ears” can be caused by the explosion of another supernova prior to 1987 A and that the neutron star can be the central light point (on the brightest point of the image). When the supernova has exploded they can be remnants of another nearby star.

However, the last word showing the perfect symmetry and origin of both ears has not yet been pronounced by scientists.