Supernova
W28 (SNR G6.4-0.1)
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 | 1,900 pc (6.2 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 86.8 ly |
| Type | Composite (shell + pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 310 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 00m 30.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −23° 25′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 67° N. South of latitude 67° 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 6,197 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 110 million years.