© X-ray: NASA/CXC/Nanjing Univ./P. Zhou et al. Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
Composite image of X-ray data from Chandra (blue) and radio emission from the very large array (red) of Sagittarius A East. Elements detected suggest this is the first remnant of a rare type Iax supernovas found in our galaxy.
Composite image of X-ray data from Chandra (blue) and radio emission from the very large array (red) of Sagittarius A East. Elements detected suggest this is the first remnant of a rare type Iax supernovas found in our galaxy.
Before we had any idea what caused them, supernovas - powerful, luminous stellar explosions - were categorized based on their dominant spectral lines. The most useful of these for research purposes turned out to be those known as Type Ia, which have the very convenient trait of always being roughly the same in their intrinsic brightness. By measuring how much light we see from a Type Ia supernova astronomers can get a good estimate of how far away the explosion, and therefore the galaxy in which it is housed, is from us.
This has served us well enough to reveal the fact the universe's expansion is accelerating, but between one-sixth and one-third of what at first looks like Ia supernovae aren't. Among these are a group sometimes called Type Iax supernovas, which have a spectrum marked by ionized silicon like ordinary Type Ias, but are considerably fainter.
While at the University of Amsterdam, study lead Ping Zhou observed a supernova remnant known as Sagittarius A East using the Chandra X-Ray telescope. Zhou thinks this is the first residue of an Iax supernova we have found in our galaxy.
Comment: For more details (and images) of the large array of 'isolation' methods that show - clearly - that SARS-CoV-2 is indeed an actual virus (along with all its mutated variants), see here:
Sigh, yes, the 'COVID virus' is real