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James Webb Space Telescope captures the image of a very young neutron star

SN 1987A was one of the few supernovae that people could see with naked eyes . It was first observed in February 1987 and is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud 1,60,000 light years away. A star of about 19 times the mass of the Sun had exploded to form a neutron star of mass 1.4 times (estimated) that of the Sun. While there were theoretical models and indirect evidence of the the formation of neutron star was there, using James Webb telescope, the scientists were able to observe direct evidence of the presence of a probable neutron star.

A three-panel image of a supernova remnant. The left panel is labeled “NIRCam” while the two right panels are labeled “MIRI M R S Argon two” (at top) and “NIRSpec I F U Argon six” (at bottom). At left, a mottled light pinkish-orange oval whose inner edge resembles a string of pearls. Within the oval is a dense blue-green cloud, shaped like a keyhole. Three stars with six-point diffraction patterns surround the oval. Above and below these structures, are very faint orange rings, which form a figure eight pattern. The center of the supernova remnant is surrounded by a white box with lines leading to the upper and lower right of the image, where two stacked panels show a bright orange ring with an orange dot in the middle. The upper panel is fuzzier and more blobby, while the bottom panel has more clearly defined edges around the ring and central dot. 

 Image source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-112

  

Just about 2 hours before the supernova was observed, a sudden detection of neutrino burst was observed in 1987. This signature had the scientist predict that there must have been a formation of either a neutron star or a black hole as the remnant of the supernova. Observations from other supernovae remnants that happened a long time ago have shown us the presence of a neutron star at their centre. However, this is the first time we are seeing a direct evidence of a very young neutron star as the supernova remnant. 

The James Webb telescope is capable of performing a spectral scan of objects along with taking images. Spectral scan basically means that it can observe the object at specific wavelengths of light. James Webb telescope is capable of scanning objects from 0.6 microns to 28.5 microns which lies in the range of visible red colour to the mid-infrared wavelengths.

Analysis of the spectra showed the presence of high energy Argon ions at the centre of the supernovae. The degree of ionization that was observed could only be explained by the presence of a very strong radiation source such as neutron star. Therefore, the scientists have come close to the conclusion that there must be a neutron star there. The youngest neutron star we have ever detected directly.

Another interesting thing to note about this supernova is that there was a detection of neutrinos just for few seconds by various research groups a couple of hours before the star exploded. It is likely that the same phenomenon will be repeated when the Betelgeuse star will go supernova. The scientists would have some time to adjust their telescopes when it is coming to see it from time zero.


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