Supernova
IC 443 (SNR G189.1+3.0)
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 | Gemini |
| Distance | 1,800 pc (5.9 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 77.0 ly |
| Type | Composite (shell + pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 165 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 16m 60.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +22° 34′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 67° S. North of latitude 67° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 5,871 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 104 million years.