Supernova
3C 58 (SNR G130.7+3.1)
Supernova remnant
The shock wave of a supernova expanding at thousands of kilometres per second: it sweeps up and heats the interstellar gas and shines in radio waves.
| Type | Supernova |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cassiopeia |
| Distance | 2,000 pc (6.5 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 12.7 ly |
| Type | Filled-centre (pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 33 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 2h 05m 41.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +64° 49′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 25° S. North of latitude 25° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in October, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,523 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 116 million years.