Shattered Star Uncovered by NASA's Swift Satellite: 'Star Wreck' Revealed

A previously unknown shattered star has been uncovered by NASA's Swift satellite while performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxy's central regions. One of the youngest-known supernova remnants in the Milky Way galaxy, the remains of the star may give new clues to scientists for understanding the nature of the original star and the details of its demise.

The shattered star, named G306.3-0.9 (after the coordinates of its sky position) is a rare site in the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate that a supernova explosion occurs only once or twice a century in our galaxy. So far, astronomers have catalogued a little over 300 supernova remnants in the galaxy and the latest find is probably less than 2,500 years old, which makes it one of the 20 youngest remnants that have been identified thus far. Because it is so young, astronomers can glean more information from the remains.

Supernova remnants emit energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from radio to gamma rays. This energy can reveal important information about what the star was like while it was still "alive." In particular, X-ray observations figure prominently in revealing the motion of expanding debris, its chemical content and its interaction with the interstellar environment. This X-ray light, though, usually fades out after 10,000 years. Only half of the supernova remnants known in the Milky Way galaxy have been detected in X-rays at all.

By using an estimated distance of 26,000 light-years, the scientists were able to estimate that the shockwave from the recently discovered remnant is currently racing through space at about 1.5 million mph. Observations also revealed the presence of iron, neon, silicon and sulfur at temperatures exceeding 50 million degrees F.

"We don't yet have enough information to determine what type of supernova this was and therefore what type of star exploded, but we've planned a further Chandra observation to improve the picture," said coauthor Jamie Kennea, in a NASA press release. "We see no compelling evidence that the explosion formed a neutron star, and this is something we hope can be determined one way or the other by future work.

A paper detailing the findings was published online in The Astrophysical Journal.