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First supernova companion star found

8 January 2004

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New observations with the Hubble Space Telescope allow a look into a supernova explosion under development. In this artist’s view the red supergiant supernova progenitor star (left) is exploding after having transferred about 10 solar masses of hydrogen gas to the blue companion star (right). This interaction process happened over about 250 years and affected the supernova explosion to such an extent that SN 1993J was later known as one of the most peculiar supernovae ever seen.

Credits: ESA and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)

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A virtual journey into one of the spiral arms of the grand spiral Messier 81 (imaged with the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma, left) reveals the superb razor-sharp imaging power of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (Hubble’s WFPC2 instrument, below). The close-up (with Hubble’s ACS, to the right) is centred on the newly discovered companion star to Supernova 1993J that itself is no longer visible. The quarter-circle around the supernova companion is a so-called light echo originating from sheets of dust in the galaxy reflecting light from the original supernova explosion.

Credits: ESA and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)

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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the area in Messier 81 where Supernova 1993J exploded. The companion to the supernova ‘mother star’ that remains after the explosion is seen in the centre of the image.

The image is taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and is a combination of four exposures taken with ACS’ High Resolution Camera. The exposures were taken through two near-UV filters (250W, 2100 seconds and 330W, 1200 seconds) shown in purple and blue, a deep blue filter (435W, 1000 seconds) shown in green and a green filter (555W, 1120 seconds) shown in red.

The quarter-circle around the supernova companion is a so-called light echo originating from sheets of dust in the galaxy reflecting light from the original supernova explosion. The timing of the appearance of these echoes can be used to map out the dust structure around the supernova. The light echo was detected in late 2002 and early 2003 by two competing groups of scientists.

Credits: ESA and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)

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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a small portion of one of Messier 81’s spiral arms. It extends about 0.03 x 0.03 degrees. The supernova companion is the bluish star in the upper right hand corner. Dust lanes in the spiral arms of the galaxy are seen, as well as many other stars and a few star forming nebulae.

The image is composed of four separate exposures from the ESO/ST-ECF Archive through a blue filter, a green filter, a red filter and a near-infrared filter. The image was taken with Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.

Acknowledgement: Bob Kirshner (Harvard University, USA)

Credits: ESA and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)

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This ground-based image shows the spiral galaxy Messier 81 in its entirety. The image is a combination of exposures from the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma (courtesy of Jonathan Irwin) and Digitized Sky Survey 2 images.

Credits: ESA/INT/DSS2

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The dynamic duo, Messier 81 and 82 (ground-based)

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This wide-angle image taken by astrophotographer Robert Gendler shows the amazing duo of Messier 81 (right) and Messier 82 (left). These two mighty galaxies in the Plough (Ursa Major) belong to some of the most famous and beloved galaxies known to amateur astronomers. This may be one of the reasons that Supernova 1993J was discovered by the Spanish amateur astronomer Francisco Garcia Diaz and not a professional astronomer.

The violent star-forming activity in the neighbouring Messier 82 gives rise to a strong galactic wind that is spewing knotty filaments of hydrogen and nitrogen gas (seen in red) out of its centre.

Credits: Robert Gendler (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com)

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