Supernova 1987A: Evidence Of Neutron Star Hidden Behind The Cloud – Found

For more than 30 years astronomers have been unable to locate the neutron star — the collapsed leftover core of the giant star — as it has been concealed by a thick cloud of cosmic dust.

Artistic rendering of a neutron star enveloped by a shroud of dust and gas. Credit: Cardiff University

Using images taken with ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the team has found a particular patch of the dust cloud that is brighter than its surroundings, and which matches the suspected location of the neutron star.

“For the very first time, we can tell that there is a neutron star inside this cloud within the supernova remnant. Its light has been veiled by a very thick cloud of dust, blocking the direct light from the neutron star at many wavelengths like fog masking a spotlight,” Dr. Phil Cigan, from Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy, said in a press release.

Dr. Mikako Matsuura, another leading member of the study, added: “Although the light from the neutron star is absorbed by the dust cloud that surrounds it, this, in turn, makes the cloud shine in sub-millimeter light, which we can now see with the extremely sensitive ALMA telescope.”

Supernova 1987A was first spotted in the Large Magellanic Cloud, only 160,000 light-years away by astronomers on Feb 23, 1987. The object blazed in the night sky with the power of 100 million suns and continuing to shine brightly for several months.

It was the nearest supernova explosion observed in over 400 years, which resulted in huge amounts of gas with a temperature of over a million degrees, but as the gas began to cool down quickly below zero degrees centigrade, some of the gas transformed into a solid, i.e. dust.

“Our new findings will now enable astronomers to better understand how massive stars end their lives, leaving behind these extremely dense neutron stars,” continued Dr. Matsuura.

“We are confident that this neutron star exists behind the cloud and that we know its precise location. Perhaps when the dust cloud begins to clear up in the future, astronomers will be able to directly see the neutron star for the very first time.”

The findings have been published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff