- WHY IT MATTERS: Study author Oliver Krause of the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, says the findings may help astrophysicists reconstruct the history of events in our galaxy.
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona This false-color picture shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.
Scientists have analyzed a "light echo" from the original explosion of Cassiopeia A, the youngest known supernova in our own Milky Way galaxy.
The explosion occurred around 1680 -- just yesterday, in stellar terms.
The scientists observed an infrared spectrum of radiation that suggests Cassiopeia A was a type IIb supernova and was birthed from the collapse of a red supergiant star.
Source:
Audio excerpt from the weekly Science journal podcast.
