Supernova Pictures

The image below is from the Chandra observatory, think of it as the Hubble for X-rays. It's of Cassiopeia A which is the youngest remnant of a supernova in our galaxy (in the constellation Cassiopeia). Supernovas are explosions of large stars and as you might imagine there's a lot of energy produced. In fact, it's believed all the elements in the universe heavier than iron were produced in supernova explosions. This is why elements like gold are so rare.

In this case astronomers were looking at more esoteric stuff, particularly electrons given off in the explosion. Looking at how they are accelerated (which should be similar to how protons and ions are accelerated) offers an explanation for where cosmic rays come from. Cosmic rays are these particles with lots of energy, so basically going very fast. The question is what gives them this energy? The theory is supernovas do. By looking at the dispersal patterns in x-rays this observation seems to back up the theory of accelerating particles. For me, it's a pretty picture :)


Here are some more pics of the same thing in different wavelengths, including what it looks like in visible light (that is through a telescope).