Sher 25: A Pending Supernova
Explanation:
No
supernova
has ever been predicted.
These
dramatic stellar explosions
that destroy stars and
disperse elements
that compose
people and
planets
are not so well understood that astronomers can accurately
predict when a star will explode - yet.
Perhaps
Sher
25 will be the first.
Sher 25, designated by the arrow, is a blue
supergiant
star located just outside the star cluster and emission nebula
NGC 3603.
Sher 25 lies in the center of an
hourglass shaped nebula much like the
one that surrounds the last bright supernova visible from Earth:
SN1987a.
Now the hourglass shaped rings around
SN1987a
were emitted
before that blue supergiant exploded.
Maybe Sher 25 has expelled these bipolar rings in a step
that closely precedes a supernova.
If so,
Sher 25 may be within
a few thousand years of its spectacular finale.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
