Brilliant Supernova Explosion Reveals Youngest X-Ray Binary Star System

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has made some new findings. It's identified a glowing wreck of a star, known as a supernova, that exploded just 2,500 years ago--a mere second of time in astronomical terms.

The newly formed supernova is located in the Milky Way about 24,000 to 30,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Circinus. This supernova remnant actually consists of a glowing nebula created when the star exploded and, inside of it, the collapsed core of the destroyed star--a neutron star. This neutron star is currently clinging to its former companion star and is actually the only known example of such a system within our galaxy.

When a once-massive star explodes as a supernova, it creates either a black hole or a neutron star, which is a condensed, rapidly-spinning cinder with extraordinary gravitational pull. Most neutron stars exist in isolation, though this one has a companion.

The neutron star is dubbed Circinus X-1 and is known as an X-ray binary system. Most X-ray binaries are quite old and no longer have a supernova remnant. Yet this one is young enough that it still has its remnant.

"This particular remnant is only about 2,500 years old, which makes the system the youngest known X-ray binary," said Sebastian Heinz, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In terms of a human lifetime, it would be roughly akin to a newborn just a few days old."

The shock wave from a supernova can only be seen for about 100,000 years or so before it dissipates and merges with the rest of dust and gas around it in space. This means that the new finding is not only rare, but it can tell scientists quite a bit about the evolution of stars.

"Our observations solve a number of puzzles both about this object and the way that neutron stars evolve after they are born," said Heinz in a news release. "For example, the unusual elliptical orbit on which these two stars swing around each other is exactly what you would expect for a very young X-ray binary."

The findings reveal a little bit more about X-ray binary systems. In addition, they show more about the evolution of stars in general, which tell astronomers a bit more about our universe.

The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.