The Hubble place telescope has patiently collectedobservationsof supernova SN 2014J in the nearby M82 wandflower . The outcome was first watch on January 21 , 2014 , and the sparkle give off has been seen by the space observatory ricocheting off dust clouds , like waves in a pond .
The phenomenon was possible because the supernova lies behind a declamatory amount of interstellar textile . The junk cloud that enshrines it is estimated to extend between 300 and 1,600 light - years around the object . This was extremely utile for astronomers after the object was discovered . They used its light tostudy in detailwhich elements were circularise between the stars .
SN 2014J is settle 11.4 million light - years away and its relative closeness was another advantage for these and many other observations ( 100 paper have hash out this target ) . Analyzing its emission , researchers confirmed that supernova of this kind releasea large amount of nickelwhen they explode .
The find was serendipitous and pass off during an undergraduate training deterrent example at the University of London Observatory . SN 2014J is a popular target for inexpert stargazer . In the sky , M82 , also known as the Cigar Galaxy , is located near the Big Dipper .
The result is also of cosmologic grandness . SN 2014J is a type Ia supernova , explosion that always have ( we think ) the same luminosity . This fact grant research worker to use them as standard wax light , cosmological milepost to measure the aloofness of faraway galax .
Type Ia supernovae happen when a white dwarf explodes after having stolen textile from a companion champion , either another white midget or an evolved star like a red giant . stargazer expect at archival images of the object hoping to go out the nature of the comrade but they could n’t regain any conclusive evidence .
Astronomers have spot about 15 light echoes from supernovae outside our own galax . These are not easy to overhear as they involve to be relatively nearby for our scope to spot them .
