Supernova
SNR G68.6-1.2
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 | Cygnus |
| Distance | 15,000 pc (48.9 thousand ly) · estimated |
| Diameter | 327.5 ly |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 1.1 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 08m 40.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +30° 37′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 59° S. North of latitude 59° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 49 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 868 million years.