Supernova
W41 (SNR G23.3-0.3)
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. 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 | Scutum |
| Distance | 2,700 pc (8.8 thousand ly) · estimated |
| Diameter | 69.1 ly |
| Type | Shell type |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 70 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 34m 45.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −8° 48′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 81° N. 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 8,806 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 156 million years.