{"id":452298,"date":"2026-06-12T06:41:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/missions\/chandra\/nasas-chandra-discovers-possible-supernova-remnant-in-galactic-center\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T06:41:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:41:44","slug":"nasas-chandra-discovers-possible-supernova-remnant-in-galactic-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=452298","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Chandra Discovers Possible Supernova Remnant in Galactic Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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5 Min Read<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA\u2019s Chandra Discovers Possible Supernova Remnant in Galactic Center\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Astronomers<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Using data from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers may have found a supernova remnant in an intriguing neighborhood in the middle of our galaxy. A paper describing these new findings<\/a> published in The Astrophysical Journal.<\/p>\n

Supernova remnants are the expanding remains of exploded stars and provide elements \u2013 like iron, oxygen, and silicon \u2013 that are critical for the formation of planets and for life as we know it to form and flourish.<\/p>\n

This new supernova remnant, if confirmed, would be one of the closest ever discovered to the supermassive black hole at the central region of the Milky Way galaxy, an exotic region crammed with massive stars, long threads of magnetic fields and dense clouds of gas orbiting rapidly around the Galactic Center.<\/p>\n

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\"Astronomers<\/a><\/figure>
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Astronomers may have uncovered a new supernova remnant in a star-forming region near the center of the Milky Way galaxy using data from Chandra and XMM-Newton. If confirmed, this would be one of the closest supernova remnants to the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center. This image shows the region where the evidence was found, which contains X-rays from Chandra and XMM-Newton, radio data from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, and an optical image from the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawaii.<\/div>\n
X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/UCLA\/Z. Zhu et al.; ESA\/XMM-Newton; Optical: PanSTARRS; Radio: MeerKAT; Infrared (JWST): NASA\/ESA\/CSA\/STScI; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/L. Frattare and P. Edmonds<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A new composite image of this region contains X-rays from Chandra and ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency\u2019s) XMM-Newton mission (shown in blue) as well as radio data from the MeerKAT telescope (shown in red) in South Africa. These have been combined with an optical image from the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawaii (red, green, and blue). The plane of the galaxy runs horizontally from left to right in the image, and the central black hole is off to the left of the image.<\/p>\n

The evidence for the new supernova remnant, located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, comes from X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton. The X-ray data reveals a \u201cblob\u201d of X-ray emission that may come from the remains of a massive star that self-destructed as a supernova, buried within the larger cloud of expanding gas.<\/p>\n

The location of this suspected supernova remnant in the image is labeled with a circle.<\/p>\n

It is in a bubble of gas that has had electrons stripped away from hydrogen \u2013 called an \u201cH II region\u201d \u2013 surrounding a massive, young star. This bubble is a bright source of radio emission called Sagittarius C.<\/p>\n

If this is indeed a supernova remnant, then it is expanding at about two million miles per hour and is at least about 1,700 years old. Previously, observations with NASA\u2019s now-retired SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission had shown evidence for an expanding shell of gas surrounding Sagittarius C. This gave astronomers a hint that a stellar explosion had occurred in the same spot.<\/p>\n

The long filaments seen in the radio image are caused by energetic particles travelling along magnetic fields that are mostly directed perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy.<\/p>\n

The nuclear fusion engines of stars create elements from hydrogen and helium that were abundant at the beginning of the universe. When stars explode at the end of their lives as supernovae, they send these newly synthesized elements into interstellar space and provide material for the next generation of stars and planets.<\/p>\n

The team of astronomers searched the X-ray data for signs of increased amounts of key elements in the remnant, which would have been caused by the stellar explosion blasting them into space. While they did not see an enhancement, this could imply that the stellar debris has already mixed with the surrounding gas.<\/p>\n

An alternative explanation for the X-ray blob is that the hot gas comes from a collection of massive stars in the region. The authors of the recent study don\u2019t think this explanation is likely, because the X-ray emission from the blob is more than ten times brighter than the X-ray emission of large, known stellar clusters with bright, massive stars.<\/p>\n

An additional image shows data from NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope added to the X-ray and radio data. The light blue color represents infrared light from gas in the H II region, and the darker blue depicts X-rays from the supernova remnant candidate, on the right side of the image. X-rays near the center of the image are associated with the H II region, possibly caused by material blown away by massive stars that has heated gas to millions of degrees, producing X-rays.<\/p>\n

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\"Sagittarius<\/a><\/figure>
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Sagittarius C, close-up image adding NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope data to the X-ray and radio data. <\/div>\n
X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/UCLA\/Z. Zhu et al.; ESA\/XMM-Newton; Optical: PanSTARRS; Radio: MeerKAT; Infrared (JWST): NASA\/ESA\/CSA\/STScI; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/L. Frattare and P. EdmondsX-ray: NASA\/CXC\/UCLA\/Z. Zhu et al.; ESA\/XMM-Newton; Optical: PanSTARRS; Radio: MeerKAT; Infrared (JWST): NASA\/ESA\/CSA\/STScI; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/L. Frattare and P. Edmonds<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The study\u2019s authors are Zhenlin Zhu and Mark Morris of the University of California, Los Angeles; Gabriele Ponti of Italy\u2019s National Institute for Astrophysics; and Ping Zhou of Nanjing University in China.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory\u2019s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Visual Description<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This release features a composite image of colorful, overlapping clouds, which suggests to astronomers that a supernova remnant may be buried in gas near the center of our Milky Way galaxy.<\/p>\n

Set against a backdrop packed with distant stars and other specks of light are two distinct, overlapping clouds. The larger, visually dominant cloud, is red and multifaceted. It has an irregular shape, and features patches of different textures, including pockets that resemble wispy smoke, tangles of faint red veins, and clear streaking lines. This large cloud of expanding gas represents radio data from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Overlapping with that red cloud is a cloudy blue blob representing X-ray data from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA\u2019s XMM-Newton. Astronomers suggest that this blue blob of X-ray emissions is the remains of a massive star destroyed by a supernova.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about NASA\u2019s Chandra mission, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/chandra<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/chandra.si.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

News Media Contact<\/h2>\n

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

Joel Wallace
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Lee Mohon<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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