Supernova
SNR G11.2-0.3
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 | Sagittarius |
| Distance | 4,400 pc (14.4 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 16.7 ly |
| Type | Composite (shell + pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 22 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 11m 27.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −19° 25′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 71° N. South of latitude 71° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 14 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 255 million years.