Supernova
W50 (SS 433) (SNR G39.7-2.0)
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.
| Type | Supernova |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Distance | 5,500 pc (17.9 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 442.9 ly |
| Radio flux (1 GHz) | 85 Jy |
| Source | Green's SNR Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 12m 20.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +4° 55′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 85° 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 18 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 318 million years.