The Veliki supernova remnant is of unprecedented scale.

The discovery and exploration of the Veliki supernova remnant has revealed many fascinating astronomical secrets.

A team of international astronomers recently discovered a previously unknown supernova remnant (SNR) in the Large Magellanic Cloud and named it "Veliki"—meaning "gigantic" in Serbian. The object, designated SNR J0450.4−7050, appears as faint streaks of gas, but is actually a spectacular remnant of a supernova explosion. Its enormous size and unique structure have astonished the astronomical community.

According to a report in Science News Today, a research team led by astronomer Zachary J. Smeaton from the University of Western Sydney in Australia has discovered, through observations using multiple radio telescopes, including MeerKAT in South Africa and ASKAP in Australia, that Veliki's true size is much larger than previously estimated, with a diameter of 489 x 264 light-years. If the solar system were placed inside this supernova remnant, it would appear incredibly small, like a speck of cosmic dust.

Photo: @Space.

Veliki, approximately 45,000 years old, is a gaseous shell left over from a supernova explosion. Its complex structure resembles a cosmic spiderweb. The research team points out that it exhibits a rare two-layered filamentous structure, accompanied by strong alpha hydrogen emissions, suggesting that intense radiation shocks are still active within it, and that it also demonstrates a much higher level of evolution than previously thought.

Even more surprisingly, Veliki exhibits unusually high radio luminosity and a more extreme spectral index compared to similar supernova remnants.

Astronomers consider Veliki a "space laboratory" for studying the interstellar medium, magnetic fields, and evolutionary mechanisms of supernovae. Further observations will be made of the surrounding gas and its magnetic field distribution, even to determine what type of host star caused this supernova explosion—it could be a blue giant or a white dwarf binary system.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/tan-du-sieu-tan-tinh-veliki-co-quy-mo-chua-tung-thay-post2149101422.html