Carding 4 Carders
Professional
- Messages
- 2,724
- Reaction score
- 1,586
- Points
- 113
Dive into the cosmic mysteries of the Cygnus Loop with NASA.
To study how the explosions of dying stars create the basis for new star systems, NASA launches a new rocket into space. The mission is called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment (INFUSE) and will launch from the White Sands test site in New Mexico on October 29, 2023. The main goal is to study a stellar phenomenon known as the Cygnus Loop.
INFUSE is a first-of-its-kind integrated polar spectrograph that combines the advantages of spectroscopy and imaging. It will explore the Cygnus Loop, located near the famous Cygnus constellation, which is often depicted as a bird with outstretched wings. Above the Cygnus wing is the Cygnus Loop, also known as the Veil Nebula.
The Cygnus loop is the remnant of a star that was once 20 times the size of our Sun. About 20,000 years ago, it collapsed under its own gravitational pull, turning into a supernova. Astronomers suggest that the flare was so powerful that it was visible even during the day on Earth, despite the distance of 2,600 light-years.
The Cygnus loop is a complex network of luminous filaments and air structures made of gas and dust formed as a result of the interaction of shock waves from a supernova explosion with the surrounding interstellar medium.
"Supernovae like the one that created the Cygnus Loop have a huge impact on galaxy formation," said Brian Fleming, a research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and principal investigator of the INFUSE mission.
INFUSE will observe how the supernova transfers energy to the Milky Way, capturing the light emitted when the shock wave collides with clusters of cold gas in the galaxy.
Fleming and his colleagues will use data from INFUSE to determine the location of various elements along the Cygnus Loop shock wave front and determine their temperatures.
"With these unique measurements, we will better understand how these elements from the supernova mix with the environment. This is a big step toward understanding how material from supernovae becomes part of planets like Earth, and even humans like us," added CU Boulder student Emily Witt, who will lead the data analysis.
To study how the explosions of dying stars create the basis for new star systems, NASA launches a new rocket into space. The mission is called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment (INFUSE) and will launch from the White Sands test site in New Mexico on October 29, 2023. The main goal is to study a stellar phenomenon known as the Cygnus Loop.
INFUSE is a first-of-its-kind integrated polar spectrograph that combines the advantages of spectroscopy and imaging. It will explore the Cygnus Loop, located near the famous Cygnus constellation, which is often depicted as a bird with outstretched wings. Above the Cygnus wing is the Cygnus Loop, also known as the Veil Nebula.
The Cygnus loop is the remnant of a star that was once 20 times the size of our Sun. About 20,000 years ago, it collapsed under its own gravitational pull, turning into a supernova. Astronomers suggest that the flare was so powerful that it was visible even during the day on Earth, despite the distance of 2,600 light-years.
The Cygnus loop is a complex network of luminous filaments and air structures made of gas and dust formed as a result of the interaction of shock waves from a supernova explosion with the surrounding interstellar medium.
"Supernovae like the one that created the Cygnus Loop have a huge impact on galaxy formation," said Brian Fleming, a research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and principal investigator of the INFUSE mission.
INFUSE will observe how the supernova transfers energy to the Milky Way, capturing the light emitted when the shock wave collides with clusters of cold gas in the galaxy.
Fleming and his colleagues will use data from INFUSE to determine the location of various elements along the Cygnus Loop shock wave front and determine their temperatures.
"With these unique measurements, we will better understand how these elements from the supernova mix with the environment. This is a big step toward understanding how material from supernovae becomes part of planets like Earth, and even humans like us," added CU Boulder student Emily Witt, who will lead the data analysis.
