Supernova
RCW 86 (SN 185) (SNR G315.4-2.3)
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 | Circinus |
| Distance | 2,500 pc (8.2 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 99.8 ly |
| Type | Shell type |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 49 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 14h 43m 00.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −62° 30′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 28° N. South of latitude 27° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 8,154 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 145 million years.