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Eye on the Sky: Blowing Titanium Bubbles

This spectacular image and the description are taken from Sky And Telescope magazine, the June 2021st edition. I strongly recommend a subscription to astronomy buffs:

 

Eye on the Sky: Blowing titanium bubbles

Traces of the stable element provide a clue as to how some massive old stars go supernova

 

CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY/NUSTAR/HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 21 APRIL 2021

 

Reminiscent of a child’s painting, this kaleidoscopic creation is supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), revealed by new research to be blasting out unusual titanium bubbles.

 

Finding ‘stable’ titanium for the very first time – among other elements including iron (orange), oxygen (purple), silicon/magnesium (green) and the much more common unstable titanium (light blue) – adds strength to the theory that neutrinos (very low mass subatomic particles) are what drive the shockwaves necessary for massive fuel-depleted stars to explode as supernovae.

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Uploaded on May 27, 2021
Taken on May 27, 2021