Supernova
W44 (SNR G34.7-0.4)
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 | Aquila |
| Distance | 3,000 pc (9.8 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 87.4 ly |
| Type | Composite (shell + pulsar wind nebula) |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 240 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 56m 00.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +1° 22′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 89° S. 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 9,785 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 174 million years.