Six billion tonnes a second: rogue planet Cha 1107-7626 found growing at record rate
Astronomers have identified an enormous ‘growth spurt’ in a so-called rogue planet. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, these objects do not orbit stars, free-floating on their own instead. The new observations, made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), reveal that this free-floating planet is eating up gas and dust from its surroundings at a rate of six billion tonnes a second. This is the strongest growth rate ever recorded for a rogue planet, or a planet of any kind, providing valuable insights into how they form and grow.
This artist’s impression shows Cha 1107-7626. Located about 620 light-years away, this rogue planet is about 5-10 times more massive than Jupiter and doesn’t orbit a star. It is eating up material from a disc around it and, using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered that it is now doing so at a rate of six billion tonnes per second –– the fastest ever found for any kind of planet. The team suspects that strong magnetic fields could be funnelling material towards the planet, something only seen in stars. When the infalling material reaches the planet it heats up its surface, creating a bright hot spot. The X-shooter spectrograph on ESO’s VLT detected a marked brightening in mid-2025, and found a clear fingerprint that this was caused by infalling gas. The observations show that the planet is now accreting matter about 8 times faster than a few months before. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser
“People may think of planets as quiet and stable worlds, but with this discovery we see that planetary-mass objects freely floating in space can be exciting places,”
says Víctor Almendros-Abad, an astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy and lead author of the new study.
The newly studied object, which has a mass five to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, is located about 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. Officially named Cha 1107-7626, this rogue planet is still forming and is fed by a surrounding disc of gas and dust. This material constantly falls onto the free-floating planet, a process known as accretion. However, the team led by Almendros-Abad has now found that the rate at which the young planet is accreting is not steady.
This infrared image, taken with ESO’s Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) shows the position in the sky of the rogue planet Cha 1107-7626. The planet is a dot located exactly at the centre of the frame. Credit: ESO/Meingast et al.
By August 2025, the planet was accreting about eight times faster than just a few months before, at a rate of six billion tonnes per second!
“This is the strongest accretion episode ever recorded for a planetary-mass object,”
says Almendros-Abad. The discovery, published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was made with the X-shooter spectrograph on ESO’s VLT, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The team also used data from the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by the US, European and Canadian space agencies, and archival data from the SINFONI spectrograph on ESO’s VLT.
“The origin of rogue planets remains an open question: are they the lowest-mass objects formed like stars, or giant planets ejected from their birth systems?”
asks co-author Aleks Scholz, an astronomer at the University of St Andrews, United Kingdom. The findings indicate that at least some rogue planets may share a similar formation path to stars since similar bursts of accretion have been spotted in young stars before. As co-author Belinda Damian, also an astronomer at the University of St Andrews, explains:
“This discovery blurs the line between stars and planets and gives us a sneak peek into the earliest formation periods of rogue planets.”
By comparing the light emitted before and during the burst, astronomers gathered clues about the nature of the accretion process. Remarkably, magnetic activity appears to have played a role in driving the dramatic infall of mass, something that has only been observed in stars before. This suggests that even low-mass objects can possess strong magnetic fields capable of powering such accretion events. The team also found that the chemistry of the disc around the planet changed during the accretion episode, with water vapour being detected during it but not before. This phenomenon had been spotted in stars but never in a planet of any kind.
This visible-light image, part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2, shows the position in the sky of the rogue planet Cha 1107-7626. The planet (not visible here) is located exactly at the centre of the frame. Credit: ESO/ Digitized Sky Survey 2
Free-floating planets are difficult to detect, as they are very faint, but ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), operating under the world’s darkest skies for astronomy, could change that. Its powerful instruments and giant main mirror will enable astronomers to uncover and study more of these lonely planets, helping them to better understand how star-like they are. As co-author and ESO astronomer Amelia Bayo puts it:
“The idea that a planetary object can behave like a star is awe-inspiring and invites us to wonder what worlds beyond our own could be like during their nascent stages.”
More information
This research was presented in a paper titled “Discovery of an Accretion Burst in a Free-Floating Planetary-Mass Object” to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ae09a8).
The team is composed of V. Almendros-Abad (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy), Aleks Scholz (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom [St Andrews]), Belinda Damian (St Andrews), Ray Jayawardhana (Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, USA [JHU]), Amelia Bayo (European Southern Observatory, Germany), Laura Flagg (JHU), Koraljka Mužić (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal), Antonella Natta (School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and University College Dublin, Ireland) Paola Pinilla (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, UK) and Leonardo Testi (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Italy).
Webb observes Sharpless 2-284, a Herbig-Haro object, an immense stellar jet on outskirts of our Milky Way
Way out toward the edge of our Milky Way galaxy, a young star that is still forming is sending out a birth announcement to the Universe in the form of a celebratory looking firework. These seething twin jets of hot gasses are blazing across 8 light-years – twice the distance between our Sun and the nearest star system. Superheated gases falling onto the massive star are blasted back into space along the star’s rotational axis and powerful magnetic fields confine the jets to narrow beams. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope witnessed the spectacle in infrared light. The jets are plowing into interstellar dust and gas, creating fascinating details captured only by Webb.
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged an extremely large stellar jet at the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy in the proto-cluster Sh2-284. This Herbig-Haro (HH) object, jets of plasma shooting out from newly formed stars, is 8 light-years across. This is about double the distance from our Sun to its closest neighboring star system, Alpha Centauri. Its detection provides evidence that HH jets scale with the mass of their parent stars—the more massive the stellar engine driving the plasma, the larger the resulting jet. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Y. Cheng (NAOJ), J. DePasquale (STScI)
A blowtorch of seething gasses erupting from a volcanically growing monster star has been captured by Webb. Stretching across 8 light-years, the length of the stellar eruption is approximately twice the distance between our Sun and the nearby Alpha Centauri system. The size and strength of this particular stellar jet, known as Sharpless 2-284 (Sh2-284 for short), qualifies it as rare, say researchers.
The outflow is streaking across space at hundreds of thousands of kilometres per hour. The central protostar, weighing as much as ten of our Suns, is located 15,000 light-years away in the outer reaches of our galaxy.
The Webb discovery was serendipitous. “We didn’t really know there was a massive star with this kind of super-jet out there before the observation. Such a spectacular outflow of molecular hydrogen from a massive star is rare in other regions of our galaxy,” said lead author Yu Cheng of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
This unique class of stellar fireworks, called Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, are highly collimated jets of plasma shooting out from newly forming stars. Such jetted outflows are a star’s spectacular “birth announcement” to the Universe. Some of the infalling gas building up around the central star is blasted along the star’s spin axis, likely under the influence of magnetic fields.
Today, well over 300 HH objects have been observed, but mainly from low-mass stars. These spindle-like jets offer clues into the nature of newly forming stars. The energetics, narrowness, and evolutionary time scales of HH objects all serve to constrain models of the environment and physical properties of the young stellar object powering the outflow.
“I was really surprised at the order, symmetry, and size of the jet when we first looked at it,” said co-author Jonathan Tan of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Its detection offers evidence that HH jets must scale up with the mass of the star powering them. The more massive the stellar engine propelling the plasma, the larger the gusher’s size.
The jet’s detailed filamentary structure, captured by Webb’s crisp resolution in infrared light, is evidence the jet is plowing into interstellar dust and gas. This creates separate knots, bow shocks, and linear chains.
The tips of the jet, lying in opposite directions, encapsulate the history of the star’s formation. “Originally the material was close into the star, but over 100,000 years the tips were propagating out, and then the stuff behind is a younger outflow,” said Tan.
Outlier
At nearly twice the distance from the galactic center as our Sun, the host proto-cluster that’s home to the voracious jet is on the periphery of our Milky Way galaxy.
Within the cluster, a few hundred stars are still forming. Being in the galactic hinterlands means the stars are deficient in heavier elements beyond hydrogen and helium. This is measured as metallicity, which gradually increases over cosmic time as each passing stellar generation expels end products of nuclear fusion through winds and supernovae. The low metallicity of Sh2-284 is a reflection of its relatively pristine nature, making it a local analog for the environments in the early universe that were also deficient in heavier elements.
“Webb’s exquisite data have also shown us that relatively more stars seem to form at lower masses in Sh2-284 than in closer, more metal-rich clusters,” said co-author Morten Andersen, of the European Southern Observatory, and lead author of a second paper on the Webb data. “This cluster is an excellent region to help us understand star formation throughout the Universe.”
“Massive stars, like the one found inside this cluster, have very important influences on the evolution of galaxies. Our discovery is shedding light on the formation mechanism of massive stars in low metallicity environments, so we can use this massive star as a laboratory to study what was going on in earlier cosmic history,” added Cheng.
Unrolling stellar tapestry
Stellar jets, which are powered by the gravitational energy released as a star grows in mass, encode the formation history of the protostar.
“Webb’s new images are telling us that the formation of massive stars in such environments could proceed via a relatively stable disc around the star that is expected in theoretical models of star formation known as core accretion,” said Tan. “Once we found a massive star launching these jets, we realised we could use the Webb observations to test theories of massive star formation. We developed new theoretical core accretion models that were fit to the data, to basically tell us what kind of star is in the center. These models imply that the star is about 10 times the mass of the Sun and is still growing and has been powering this outflow.”
For more than 30 years, astronomers have disagreed about how massive stars form. Some think a massive star requires a very chaotic process, called competitive accretion.
In the competitive accretion model, material falls in from many different directions so that the orientation of the disc changes over time. The outflow is launched perpendicularly, above and below the disc, and so would also appear to twist and turn in different directions.
“However, what we’ve seen here, because we’ve got the whole history – a tapestry of the story – is that the opposite sides of the jets are nearly 180 degrees apart from each other. That tells us that this central disc is held steady and validates a prediction of the core accretion theory,” said Tan.
Where there’s one massive star, there could be others in this outer frontier of the Milky Way. Other massive stars may not yet have reached the point of firing off Roman-candle-style outflows. Data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, also presented in this study, has found another dense stellar core that could be in an earlier stage of construction.
This image of the stellar jet in Sh2-284, captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped to the direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above). The scale bar is labeled in light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year, and arcsec (It takes 1.1 years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the scale bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. This image shows invisible near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Y. Cheng (NAOJ), J. DePasquale (STScI)
Astronomers witness still-forming planet sculpting the dust around it, near the star HD 135344B
The image to the left, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a possible planet being born around the young star HD 135344B. This star, located around 440 light-years away, is surrounded by a disc of dust and gas with prominent spiral arms. Theory predicts that planets can sculpt spiral arms like these, and the new planet candidate is located at the base of one of the arms, just as expected. The image was captured with a new VLT instrument: the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS). The central black circle corresponds to a coronagraph –– a device that blocks the light of the star to reveal faint details around it. The white circle indicates the location of the planet. The image to the right is a combination of previous observations taken with the SPHERE instrument also at the VLT (red) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, orange and blue). These and other previous studies of HD 135344B did not find signatures of a companion, but ERIS may have finally unveiled the culprit responsible for the star’s spiral disc. Credit: ESO/F. Maio et al./T. Stolker et al./ ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/N. van der Marel et al.
Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc with prominent spiral arms, finding clear signs of a planet nestled in its inner regions. This is the first time astronomers have detected a planet candidate embedded inside a disc spiral.
“We will never witness the formation of Earth, but here, around a young star 440 light-years away, we may be watching a planet come into existence in real time,” says Francesco Maio, a doctoral researcher at the University of Florence, Italy, and lead author of this study, published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The potential planet-in-the-making was detected around the star HD 135344B, within a disc of gas and dust around it called a protoplanetary disc. The budding planet is estimated to be twice the size of Jupiter and as far from its host star as Neptune is from the Sun. It has been observed shaping its surroundings within the protoplanetary disc as it grows into a fully formed planet.
This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a spiral disc around the young star HD 135344B. The image was obtained with the VLT’s Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) instrument, which found a candidate planet that may be sculpting the spiral features in the disc. The location of this planet is indicated with a white circle. The central black circle corresponds to a coronagraph — a device that blocks the light of the star to reveal faint details around it. Credit: ESO/F. Maio et al.
Protoplanetary discs have been observed around other young stars, and they often display intricate patterns, such as rings, gaps or spirals. Astronomers have long predicted that these structures are caused by baby planets, which sweep up material as they orbit around their parent star. But, until now, they had not caught one of these planetary sculptors in the act.
This image, captured with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a spiral disc around the young star HD 135344B. The image, which was released in 2016, was obtained with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument.
Spiral features like these can be sculpted by planets, although this image doesn’t show evidence of companions orbiting HD 135344B. However, new observations at somewhat longer wavelengths, obtained with the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) at the VLT, have found a possible young planet around this star.
The central black circle corresponds to a coronagraph –– a device that blocks the light of the star to reveal faint details around it.
Credit: ESO/T. Stolker et al.
This image, taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and first released in 2015, shows a planet-forming disc around the young star HD 135344B. The image combines a view of both the gas (blue) and the dust (orange) around the star. The star itself is invisible at these wavelengths, and is located in the central gap of the disc.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/N. van der Marel et al.
This image shows the dusty disc around the young star HD 135344B. It’s a combination of data taken with two different facilities: the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument at ESO’s VLT in red, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in orange and blue. The original SPHERE and ALMA images were released in 2016 and 2015 respectively and didn’t show evidence for the presence of a planet in this disc, first revealed in 2025.
Credit: ESO/T. Stolker et al./ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/N. van der Marel et al.
This image from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) shows the region of the sky around the star HD 135344B. Right at the centre of the image there are two bright stars close to each other; HD 135344B is the one at the bottom.
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: D. De Martin
This image shows a possible companion orbiting the young star V960 Mon. The star, located more than 5000 light-years away, is surrounded by a disc with intricate features. Previous analysis of the disc showed that it contains clumps of unstable material that could collapse to form a companion object. The new candidate found here could be either a planet or a brown dwarf –– an object bigger than a planet that didn’t gain enough mass to shine as a star.
The candidate object was found with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), using its new Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS). The new ERIS data are shown here in orange, overlaid on older images of the dusty disc as seen with the VLT’s SPHERE instrument (yellow) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, in blue).
Credit: ESO/A. Dasgupta/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Weber et al.
This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a possible companion orbiting the young star V960 Mon. The image was captured with the VLT’s Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) instrument. The properties of the object are unknown: it could be a planet or a brown dwarf –– an object bigger than a planet that didn’t gain enough mass to shine as a star.
Credit: ESO/A. Dasgupta
In the case of HD 135344B’s disc, swirling spiral arms had previously been detected by another team of astronomers using SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch), an instrument on ESO’s VLT. However, none of the previous observations of this system found proof of a planet forming within the disc.
Now, with observations from the new VLT’s Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) instrument, the researchers say they may have found their prime suspect. The team spotted the planet candidate right at the base of one of the disc’s spiral arms, exactly where theory had predicted they might find the planet responsible for carving such a pattern.
“What makes this detection potentially a turning point is that, unlike many previous observations, we are able to directly detect the signal of the protoplanet, which is still highly embedded in the disc,” says Maio, who is based at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, a centre of Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). “This gives us a much higher level of confidence in the planet’s existence, as we’re observing the planet’s own light.”
A star’s companion is born
A different team of astronomers have also recently used the ERIS instrument to observe another star, V960 Mon, one that is still in the very early stages of its life. In a study published on 18 July in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team report that they have found a companion object to this young star. The exact nature of this object remains a mystery.
This image shows a possible companion orbiting the young star V960 Mon. The star, located more than 5000 light-years away, is surrounded by a disc with intricate features. Previous analysis of the disc showed that it contains clumps of unstable material that could collapse to form a companion object. The new candidate found here could be either a planet or a brown dwarf –– an object bigger than a planet that didn’t gain enough mass to shine as a star.
The candidate object was found with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), using its new Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS). The new ERIS data are shown here in orange, overlaid on older images of the dusty disc as seen with the VLT’s SPHERE instrument (yellow) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, in blue).
Credit: ESO/A. Dasgupta/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Weber et al.
This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a possible companion orbiting the young star V960 Mon. The image was captured with the VLT’s Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) instrument. The properties of the object are unknown: it could be a planet or a brown dwarf –– an object bigger than a planet that didn’t gain enough mass to shine as a star.
Credit: ESO/A. Dasgupta
The new study, led by Anuroop Dasgupta, a doctoral researcher at ESO and at the Diego Portales University in Chile, follows up observations of V960 Mon made a couple of years ago. Those observations, made with both SPHERE and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), revealed that the material orbiting V960 Mon is shaped into a series of intricate spiral arms. They also showed that the material is fragmenting, in a process known as ‘gravitational instability’, when large clumps of the material around a star contract and collapse, each with the potential to form a planet or a larger object.
“That work revealed unstable material but left open the question of what happens next. With ERIS, we set out to find any compact, luminous fragments signalling the presence of a companion in the disc — and we did,” says Dasgupta.
The team found a potential companion object very near to one of the spiral arms observed with SPHERE and ALMA. The team say that this object could either be a planet in formation, or a ‘brown dwarf’ — an object bigger than a planet that didn’t gain enough mass to shine as a star.
If confirmed, this companion object may be the first clear detection of a planet or brown dwarf forming by gravitational instability.
More information
This research highlighted in the first part of this release was presented in the paper “Unveiling a protoplanet candidate embedded in the HD 135344B disk with VLT/ERIS” to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202554472). The second part of the release highlights the study “VLT/ERIS observations of the V960 Mon system: a dust-embedded substellar object formed by gravitational instability?” published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ade996).
The team who conducted the first study (on HD 135344B) is composed of F. Maio (University of Firenze, Italy, and INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico Arcetri, Firenze, Italy [OAA]), D. Fedele (OAA), V. Roccatagliata (University of Bologna, Italy [UBologna] and OAA), S. Facchini (University of Milan, Italy [UNIMI]), G. Lodato (UNIMI), S. Desidera (INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Italy [OAP]), A. Garufi (INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, Bologna, Italy [INAP-Bologna], and Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany [MPA]), D. Mesa (OAP), A. Ruzza (UNIMI), C. Toci (European Southern Observatory [ESO], Garching bei Munchen, Germany, and OAA), L. Testi (OAA, and UBologna), A. Zurlo (Diego Portales University [UDP], Santiago, Chile, and Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons [YEMS], Santiago, Chile), and G. Rosotti (UNIMI).
The team behind the second study (on V960 Mon) is primarily composed of members of the Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS), a collaborative research initiative based in Chile. Core YEMS contributors include A. Dasgupta (ESO, Santiago, Chile, UDP, and YEMS), A. Zurlo (UDP and YEMS), P. Weber (University of Santiago [Usach], Chile, and YEMS, and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration [CIRAS], Santiago, Chile), F. Maio (OAA, and University of Firenze, Italy), Lucas A. Cieza (UDP and YEMS), D. Fedele (OAA), A. Garufi (INAF Bologna and MPA), J. Miley (Usach, YEMS, and CIRAS), P. Pathak (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India), S. Pérez (Usach and YEMS, and CIRAS), and V. Roccatagliata (UBologna and OAA).
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of ESO, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.
Double detonation: new image shows SNR 0509-67.5, remains of star destroyed by pair of explosions
For the first time, astronomers have obtained visual evidence that a star met its end by detonating twice. By studying the centuries-old remains of supernova SNR 0509-67.5 with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), they have found patterns that confirm its star suffered a pair of explosive blasts. Published today, this discovery shows some of the most important explosions in the Universe in a new light.
This artist’s impression illustrates the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. Observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) show that these are the expanding remains of a star that died with a double-detonation hundreds of years ago. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Most supernovae are the explosive deaths of massive stars, but one important variety comes from an unassuming source. White dwarfs, the small, inactive cores left over after stars like our Sun burn out their nuclear fuel, can produce what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova.
“The explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy,”
says Priyam Das, a PhD student at the University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia, who led the study on SNR 0509-67.5 published today in Nature Astronomy. Much of our knowledge of how the Universe expands rests on Type Ia supernovae, and they are also the primary source of iron on our planet, including the iron in our blood.
“Yet, despite their importance, the long-standing puzzle of the exact mechanism triggering their explosion remains unsolved,” he adds.
All models that explain Type Ia supernovae begin with a white dwarf in a pair of stars. If it orbits close enough to the other star in this pair, the dwarf can steal material from its partner. In the most established theory behind Type Ia supernovae, the white dwarf accumulates matter from its companion until it reaches a critical mass, at which point it undergoes a single explosion. However, recent studies have hinted that at least some Type Ia supernovae could be better explained by a double explosion triggered before the star reached this critical mass.
This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. These are the expanding remains of a star that exploded hundreds of years ago in a double-detonation – the first photographic evidence that stars can die with two blasts. The data were captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at the VLT. MUSE allows astronomers to map the distribution of different chemical elements, displayed here in different colours. Calcium is shown in blue, and it is arranged in two concentric shells. These two layers indicate that the now-dead star exploded with a double-detonation. Credit: ESO/P. Das et al. Background stars (Hubble): K. Noll et al.
Now, astronomers have captured a new image that proves their hunch was right: at least some Type Ia supernovae explode through a ‘double-detonation’ mechanism instead. In this alternative model, the white dwarf forms a blanket of stolen helium around itself, which can become unstable and ignite. This first explosion generates a shockwave that travels around the white dwarf and inwards, triggering a second detonation in the core of the star — ultimately creating the supernova.
Until now, there had been no clear, visual evidence of a white dwarf undergoing a double detonation. Recently, astronomers have predicted that this process would create a distinctive pattern or fingerprint in the supernova’s still-glowing remains, visible long after the initial explosion. Research suggests that remnants of such a supernova would contain two separate shells of calcium.
Astronomers have now found this fingerprint in a supernova’s remains. Ivo Seitenzahl, who led the observations and was at Germany’s Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies when the study was conducted, says these results show
“a clear indication that white dwarfs can explode well before they reach the famous Chandrasekhar mass limit, and that the ‘double-detonation’ mechanism does indeed occur in nature.”
The team were able to detect these calcium layers (in blue in the image) in the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5 by observing it with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s VLT. This provides strong evidence that a Type Ia supernova can occur before its parent white dwarf reaches a critical mass.
This image shows the distribution of calcium in the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. The data were captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The overlaid curves outline two concentric shells of calcium that were ejected in two separate detonations when the star died several hundred years ago. Credit: ESO/P. Das et al.
Type Ia supernovae are key to our understanding of the Universe. They behave in very consistent ways, and their predictable brightness — no matter how far away they are — helps astronomers to measure distances in space. Using them as a cosmic measuring tape, astronomers discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe, a discovery that won the Physics Nobel Prize in 2011. Studying how they explode helps us to understand why they have such a predictable brightness.
Das also has another motivation to study these explosions.
“This tangible evidence of a double-detonation not only contributes towards solving a long-standing mystery, but also offers a visual spectacle,” he says, describing the “beautifully layered structure” that a supernova creates. For him, “revealing the inner workings of such a spectacular cosmic explosion is incredibly rewarding.”
This image marks the position on the sky of the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5, the expanding shells of a star that detonated twice. It is located 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy orbiting our own Milky Way. The inset shows new observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), which show that the original star died with two explosive blasts. The main image shows the VLT unit telescope used in these observations. Credit: ESO/Inset: P. Das et al., background stars (Hubble): K. Noll et al.
More information
This research was presented in a paper titled “Calcium in a supernova remnant shows the fingerprint of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass explosion” to appear in Nature Astronomy at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02589-5 (doi: 10.1038/s41550-025-02589-5).
The team is composed of P. Das (University of New South Wales, Australia [UNSW] & Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien, Heidelberg, Germany [HITS]), I. R. Seitenzahl (HITS), A. J. Ruiter (UNSW & HITS & OzGrav: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, Hawthorn, Australia & ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions), F. K. Röpke (HITS & Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Heidelberg, Germany & Astronomisches Recheninstitut, Heidelberg, Germany), R. Pakmor (Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Garching, Germany [MPA]), F. P. A. Vogt (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology – MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland), C. E. Collins (The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland & GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany), P. Ghavamian (Towson University, Towson, USA), S. A. Sim (Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK), B. J. Williams (X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, USA), S. Taubenberger (MPA & Technical University Munich, Garching, Germany), J. M. Laming (Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, USA), J. Suherli (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada), R. Sutherland (Australian National University, Weston Creek, Australia), and N. Rodríguez-Segovia (UNSW).
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.
Press release from European Southern Observatory – ESO
Scientists discover Barnard b, a planet orbiting the closest single star to our Sun
This artist’s impression shows Barnard b, a sub-Earth-mass planet that was discovered orbiting Barnard’s star. Its signal was detected with the ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and astronomers were able to confirm it with data from other instruments. An earlier promising detection in 2018 around the same star could not be confirmed by these data. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus but is too hot to support liquid water, a year lasts just over three Earth days. Credits: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting Barnard’s star, the closest single star to our Sun. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus, a year lasts just over three Earth days. The team’s observations also hint at the existence of three more exoplanet candidates, in various orbits around the star.
Located just six light-years away, Barnard’s star is the second-closest stellar system — after Alpha Centauri’s three-star group — and the closest individual star to us. Owing to its proximity, it is a primary target in the search for Earth-like exoplanets. Despite a promising detection back in 2018, no planet orbiting Barnard’s star had been confirmed until now.
Graphic representation of the relative distances between the nearest stars and the Sun. Barnard’s star is the second closest star system to the Sun, and the nearest single star to us. Credits: IEEC/Science-Wave – Guillem RamisaThis chart shows the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer), which straddles the celestial equator. The chart shows the location of Barnard’s Star and marks most of the stars visible to the unaided eye on a clear dark night… Credits: ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope
The discovery of this new exoplanet — announced in a paper published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics — is the result of observations made over the last five years with ESO’s VLT, located at Paranal Observatory in Chile.
“Even if it took a long time, we were always confident that we could find something,”
says Jonay González Hernández, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain, and lead author of the paper. The team were looking for signals from possible exoplanets within the habitable or temperate zone of Barnard’s star — the range where liquid water can exist on the planet’s surface. Red dwarfs like Barnard’s star are often targeted by astronomers since low-mass rocky planets are easier to detect there than around larger Sun-like stars. [1]
Barnard b [2], as the newly discovered exoplanet is called, is twenty times closer to Barnard’s star than Mercury is to the Sun. It orbits its star in 3.15 Earth days and has a surface temperature around 125 °C.
“Barnard b is one of the lowest-mass exoplanets known and one of the few known with a mass less than that of Earth. But the planet is too close to the host star, closer than the habitable zone,” explains González Hernández. “Even if the star is about 2500 degrees cooler than our Sun, it is too hot there to maintain liquid water on the surface.”
For their observations, the team used ESPRESSO, a highly precise instrument designed to measure the wobble of a star caused by the gravitational pull of one or more orbiting planets. The results obtained from these observations were confirmed by data from other instruments also specialised in exoplanet hunting: HARPS at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, HARPS-N and CARMENES. The new data do not, however, support the existence of the exoplanet reported in 2018.
In addition to the confirmed planet, the international team also found hints of three more exoplanet candidates orbiting the same star. These candidates, however, will require additional observations with ESPRESSO to be confirmed.
“We now need to continue observing this star to confirm the other candidate signals,” says Alejandro Suárez Mascareño, a researcher also at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and co-author of the study. “But the discovery of this planet, along with other previous discoveries such as Proxima b and d, shows that our cosmic backyard is full of low-mass planets.”
ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction, is set to transform the field of exoplanet research. The ELT’s ANDES instrument will allow researchers to detect more of these small, rocky planets in the temperate zone around nearby stars, beyond the reach of current telescopes, and enable them to study the composition of their atmospheres.
This wide-field image shows the surroundings of the red dwarf known as Barnard’s Star in the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer). This picture was created from material forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The centre of the image shows Barnard’s Star captured in three different exposures. The star is the fastest moving star in the night sky and its large apparent motion can be seen as its position changes between successive observations — shown in red, yellow and blue.. Credits: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2 Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin E — Red Dots
Notes
[1] Astronomers target cool stars, like red dwarfs, because their temperate zone is much closer to the star than that of hotter stars, like the Sun. This means that the planets orbiting within their temperate zone have shorter orbital periods, allowing astronomers to monitor them over several days or weeks, rather than years. In addition, red dwarfs are much less massive than the Sun, so they are more easily disturbed by the gravitational pull of the planets around them and thus they wobble more strongly.
[2] It’s common practice in science to name exoplanets by the name of their host star with a lowercase letter added to it, ‘b’ indicating the first known planet, ’c’ the next one, and so on. The name Barnard b was therefore also given to a previously suspected planet candidate around Barnard’s star, which scientists were unable to confirm.
The team is composed of J. I. González Hernández (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain [IAC] and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain [IAC-ULL]), A. Suárez Mascareño (IAC and IAC-ULL), A. M. Silva (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, Portugal [IA-CAUP] and Departamento de Física e Astronomia Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Portugal [FCUP]), A. K. Stefanov (IAC and IAC-ULL), J. P. Faria (Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, Switzerland [UNIGE]; IA-CAUP and FCUP), H. M. Tabernero (Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica & Instituto de Física de Partículas y del Cosmos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), A. Sozzetti (INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino [INAF-OATo] and Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Torino, Italy), R. Rebolo (IAC; IAC-ULL and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain [CSIC]), F. Pepe (UNIGE), N. C. Santos (IA-CAUP; FCUP), S. Cristiani (INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Italy [INAF-OAT] and Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe, Trieste, Italy [IFPU]), C. Lovis (UNIGE), X. Dumusque (UNIGE), P. Figueira (UNIGE and IA-CAUP), J. Lillo-Box (Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, Madrid, Spain [CAB]), N. Nari (IAC; Light Bridges S. L., Canarias, Spain and IAC-ULL), S. Benatti (INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy [INAF-OAPa]), M. J. Hobson (UNIGE), A. Castro-González (CAB), R. Allart (Institut Trottier de Recherche sur les Exoplanètes, Université de Montréal, Canada and UNIGE), V. M. Passegger (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Hilo, USA; IAC; IAC-ULL and Hamburger Sternwarte, Hamburg, Germany), M.-R. Zapatero Osorio (CAB), V. Adibekyan (IA-CAUP and FCUP), Y. Alibert (Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Switzerland and Weltraumforschung und Planetologie, Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Switzerland), C. Allende Prieto (IAC and IAC-ULL), F. Bouchy (UNIGE), M. Damasso (INAF-OATo), V. D’Odorico (INAF-OAT and IFPU), P. Di Marcantonio (INAF-OAT), D. Ehrenreich (UNIGE), G. Lo Curto (European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile [ESO Chile]), R. Génova Santos (IAC and IAC-ULL), C. J. A. P. Martins (IA-CAUP and Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal), A. Mehner (ESO Chile), G. Micela (INAF-OAPa), P. Molaro (INAF-OAT), N. Nunes (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade de Lisboa), E. Palle (IAC and IAC-ULL), S. G. Sousa (IA-CAUP and FCUP), and S. Udry (UNIGE).
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.
Press release from European Southern Observatory – ESO
ALMA finds possible sign of neutron star in supernova 1987A
Two teams of astronomers have made a compelling case in the 33-year-old mystery surrounding Supernova 1987A. Based on observations of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and a theoretical follow-up study, the scientists provide new insight for the argument that a neutron star is hiding deep inside the remains of the exploded star. This would be the youngest neutron star known to date.
This artist’s illustration of Supernova 1987A shows the dusty inner regions of the exploded star’s remnants (red), in which a neutron star might be hiding. This inner region is contrasted with the outer shell (blue), where the energy from the supernova is colliding (green) with the envelope of gas ejected from the star prior to its powerful detonation. Credits: NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton
Ever since astronomers witnessed one of the brightest explosions of a star in the night sky, creating Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), they have been searching for a compact object that should have formed in the leftovers from the blast.
Because particles known as neutrinos were detected on Earth on the day of the explosion (23 February 1987), astronomers expected that a neutron star had formed in the collapsed center of the star. But when scientists could not find any evidence for that star, they started to wonder whether it subsequently collapsed into a black hole instead. For decades the scientific community has been eagerly awaiting a signal from this object that has been hiding behind a very thick cloud of dust.
The “blob”
Extremely high-resolution ALMA images revealed a hot “blob” in the dusty core of Supernova 1987A (inset), which could be the location of the missing neutron star. The red color shows dust and cold gas in the center of the supernova remnant, taken at radio wavelengths with ALMA. The green and blue hues reveal where the expanding shock wave from the exploded star is colliding with a ring of material around the supernova. The green represents the glow of visible light, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The blue color reveals the hottest gas and is based on data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The ring was initially made to glow by the flash of light from the original explosion. Over subsequent years the ring material has brightened considerably as the explosion’s shock wave slams into it. Credits: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), P. Cigan and R. Indebetouw; NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton; NASA/ESA
Recently, observations from the ALMA radio telescope provided the first indication of the missing neutron star after the explosion. Extremely high-resolution images revealed a hot “blob” in the dusty core of SN 1987A, which is brighter than its surroundings and matches the suspected location of the neutron star.
“We were very surprised to see this warm blob made by a thick cloud of dust in the supernova remnant,” said Mikako Matsuura from Cardiff University and a member of the team that found the blob with ALMA. “There has to be something in the cloud that has heated up the dust and which makes it shine. That’s why we suggested that there is a neutron star hiding inside the dust cloud.”
Even though Matsuura and her team were excited about this result, they wondered about the brightness of the blob. “We thought that the neutron star might be too bright to exist, but then Dany Page and his team published a study that indicated that the neutron star can indeed be this bright because it is so very young,” said Matsuura.
Dany Page is an astrophysicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, who has been studying SN 1987A from the start. “I was halfway through my PhD when the supernova happened,” he said, “it was one of the biggest events in my life that made me change the course of my career to try to solve this mystery. It was like a modern holy grail.”
The theoretical study by Page and his team, published today in The Astrophysical Journal, strongly supports the suggestion made by the ALMA team that a neutron star is powering the dust blob. “In spite of the supreme complexity of a supernova explosion and the extreme conditions reigning in the interior of a neutron star, the detection of a warm blob of dust is a confirmation of several predictions,” Page explained.
These predictions were the location and the temperature of the neutron star. According to supernova computer models, the explosion has “kicked away” the neutron star from its birthplace with a speed of hundreds of kilometers per second (tens of times faster than the fastest rocket). The blob is exactly at the place where astronomers think the neutron star would be today. And the temperature of the neutron star, which was predicted to be around 5 million degrees Celsius, provides enough energy to explain the brightness of the blob.
Not a pulsar or a black hole
Contrary to common expectations, the neutron star is likely not a pulsar. “A pulsar’s power depends on how fast it spins and on its magnetic field strength, both of which would need to have very finely tuned values to match the observations,” said Page, “while the thermal energy emitted by the hot surface of the young neutron star naturally fits the data.”
“The neutron star behaves exactly like we expected,” added James Lattimer of Stony Brook University in New York, and a member of Page’s research team. Lattimer has also followed SN 1987A closely, having published prior to SN 1987A predictions of a supernova’s neutrino signal that subsequently matched the observations. “Those neutrinos suggested that a black hole never formed, and moreover it seems difficult for a black hole to explain the observed brightness of the blob. We compared all possibilities and concluded that a hot neutron star is the most likely explanation.”
This neutron star is a 25 km wide, extremely hot ball of ultra-dense matter. A teaspoon of its material would weigh more than all the buildings within New York City combined. Because it can only be 33 years old, it would be the youngest neutron star ever found. The second youngest neutron star that we know of is located in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A and is 330 years old.
Only a direct picture of the neutron star would give definite proof that it exists, but for that astronomers may need to wait a few more decades until the dust and gas in the supernova remnant become more transparent.
Detailed ALMA images
This colorful, multiwavelength image of the intricate remains of Supernova 1987A is produced with data from three different observatories. The red color shows dust and cold gas in the center of the supernova remnant, taken at radio wavelengths with ALMA. The green and blue hues reveal where the expanding shock wave from the exploded star is colliding with a ring of material around the supernova. The green represents the glow of visible light, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The blue color reveals the hottest gas and is based on data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The ring was initially made to glow by the flash of light from the original explosion. Over subsequent years the ring material has brightened considerably as the explosion’s shock wave slams into it. Credits: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), P. Cigan and R. Indebetouw; NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton; NASA/ESA
Even though many telescopes have made images of SN 1987A, none of them have been able to observe its core with such high precision as ALMA. Earlier (3-D) observations with ALMA already showed the types of molecules found in the supernova remnant and confirmed that it produced massive amounts of dust.
“This discovery builds upon years of ALMA observations, showing the core of the supernova in more and more detail thanks to the continuing improvements to the telescope and data processing,” said Remy Indebetouw of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the University of Virginia, who has been a part of the ALMA imaging team.
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This research is presented in two papers:
ALMA observation of the “blob”: “High Angular Resolution ALMA Images of Dust and Molecules in the SN 1987A Ejecta”, by P. Cigan et al., The Astrophysical Journal. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab4b46
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).
ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
