A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides a detailed look at the remains of a supernova explosion known as DEM L316A.
This image from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 is likely the best of the supernova remnant DEM L316A, which resides in the galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of Dorado. Image credit: NASA/ ESA / Hubble / Y. Chu.
DEM L316A, also known as SNR J0547.4-6941 and WCD97 Shell A, is approximately 160,000 light-years from Earth.
It lies toward the southern constellation of Dorado in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way.
The explosion that formed DEM L316A was an example of an energetic and bright variety of supernova, known as a Type Ia.
Such supernova events are thought to occur when a white dwarf star steals more material than it can handle from a nearby companion, and becomes unbalanced.
The result is a release of energy in the form of a violent explosion, which ejects the star’s outer layers into the surrounding space at huge speeds.
As this expelled gas travels through the interstellar material, it heats it up and ionizes it, producing the faint glow.
This new image of DEM L316A is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum.
It is based on data obtained through four filters: the near-IR filter F814W, the blue filter F457W, and green filters F555W and F656N.
The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
