NASA'S GREAT OBSERVATORIES MAY UNRAVEL 400-YEAR OLD SUPERNOVA MYSTERY(STScI-PR04-29)

FOR RELEASE: October 6, 2004

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, CfA, Cambridge, Mass.
(Phone: 617/496-7998)

Gay Yee Hill
Spitzer Science Center, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0344)

Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
(Phone: 410/338-4493)

Lisa DeNike
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
(Phone: 443/287-9906)

PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR04-29

NASA'S GREAT OBSERVATORIES MAY UNRAVEL 400-YEAR OLD SUPERNOVA MYSTERY

Four hundred years ago, sky watchers, including the famous astronomer
Johannes Kepler, best known as the discoverer of the laws of planetary
motion, were startled by the sudden appearance of a "new star" in the
western sky, rivaling the brilliance of the nearby planets. Modern
astronomers using NASA's three orbiting Great Observatories are
unraveling the mysteries of the expanding remains of Kepler's supernova,
the last such object seen to explode in our Milky Way galaxy.

When a new star appeared Oct. 9, 1604, observers could use only their
eyes to study it. The telescope would not be invented for another four
years. A team of modern-day astronomers has the combined abilities of
NASA’s Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), Hubble
Space Telescope (HST), and Chandra X-ray Observatory, to analyze the
remains in infrared radiation, visible light, and X-rays. Ravi Sankrit
and William Blair of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore lead the
team.

The combined image unveils a bubble-shaped shroud of gas and dust,
14 light-years wide and expanding at 4 million mph. Observations from
each telescope highlight distinct features of the supernova, a
fast-moving shell of iron-rich material, surrounded by an expanding
shock wave sweeping up interstellar gas and dust.

To see and read more about Kepler's supernova remnant, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/29
http://chandra.harvard.edu
http://spitzer.caltech.edu
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/
http://heritage.stsci.edu/2004/29
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/...es/kepler.html

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for
NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's
Office of Space Science, Washington. Northrop Grumman of Redondo Beach,
Calif., formerly TRW, Inc., was the prime development contractor for the
observatory. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls science
and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.
JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Science operations are conducted
at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena. JPL is a division of Caltech. Spitzer's Infrared Array
Camera was built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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