Supernova
MSH 15-56 (SNR G326.3-1.8)
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. The distance is estimated from the radio surface-brightness–diameter (Σ–D) relation and may be off by a factor of two.
| Type | Supernova |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Norma |
| Distance | 1,880 pc (6.1 thousand ly) · estimated |
| Diameter | 67.8 ly |
| Type | Composite (shell + pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 145 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 52m 60.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −56° 10′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 34° N. South of latitude 34° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in May, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,132 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 109 million years.