Archival photographs from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have been used to uncover the progenitor star to a supernova that exploded in 2005. To the surprise of astronomers, the progenitor is a rare class of ultra-bright star that, according to theory, shouldn't explode so early in its evolution.
[Top] This is a 2005 ground-based photograph of the supernova as seen in host galaxy NGC 266, located in the constellation Pisces.
[Bottom Left] This is a 1997 Hubble archival visible-light image of the region of the galaxy where the supernova exploded. The white circle marks a star that Hubble measured to have an absolute magnitude of -10.3. This corresponds to the brightness of 1 million suns (at the galaxy's distance of 215 million light-years).
[Bottom Center] This is a near-infrared-light photo of the supernova explosion taken on Nov. 11, 2005, with the Keck telescope, using adaptive optics. The blast is centered on the position of the progenitor.
[Bottom Right] This is a visible-light Hubble follow-up image taken on September 26, 2007. Note that a bright source near the site of the supernova can be seen in all three panels, but the progenitor star is gone. The Hubble pictures from both epochs were taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.
Credits
Top: Puckett Observatory;Bottom Left: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel);
Bottom Center: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), D. Leonard (San Diego State University), and D. Fox (Penn State University);
Bottom Right: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel);
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SN 2005gl, NGC 266 |
| Object Description | Supernova in a barred spiral galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 00h 49m 50.01s |
| Dec. Position | 32° 16' 56.79" |
| Constellation | Pisces |
| Distance | 215 million light-years or 66 megaparsecs |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Hubble images (bottom-left and bottom-right): These images were created from HST data from proposals : L. Ho (Carnegie Institution of Washington), A. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley), and W. Sargent (California Institute of Technology); and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel). The science team for SN 2005gl comprises: A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and D. Leonard (San Diego State University). Keck image credit (bottom-center): A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), D. Leonard (San Diego State University), and D. Fox (Pennsylvania State University). Note: The Keck data were obtained using the Near Infrared Camera 2 (NIRC2) behind the laser-guide-star-assisted adaptive optics system at the Keck II telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, on November 11, 2005. Galaxy NGC 266 image credit (top): The ground-based image of NGC 266 showing SN 2005gl was provided by The Puckett Observatory Supernova World Search Team. Credit: Puckett Observatory |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | 2005 (top), June 1997 (bottom-left), November 11, 2005 (bottom-center), and September 2007 (bottom-right) |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
