Supernova
SNR G8.7-5.0
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. 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 | Sagittarius |
| Distance | 8,680 pc (28.3 thousand ly) · estimated |
| Diameter | 214.0 ly |
| Type | Shell type |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 4.4 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 24m 10.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −23° 48′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 66° N. South of latitude 66° 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 28 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 502 million years.