Related papers: On Cas A, Cassini, Comets and King Charles

It is generally believed that the explosion which gave birth to the Cassiopeia A supernova remmant resulted from core collapse of a hydrogen-deficient star. A progenitor that has lost all its hydrogen envelope and part of its helium…

The missing historical record of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova (SN) event implies a large extinction to the SN, possibly greater than the interstellar extinction to the current SN remnant. Here we investigate the possibility that the…

Very recently the Chandra First Light Observation discovered a point-like source in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant. This detection was subsequently confirmed by the analyses of the archival data from both ROSAT and Einstein…

Cassiopeia A is one of the youngest supernova remnants known in the Milky Way and a unique laboratory for supernova physics. We present an optical spectrum of the Cassiopeia A supernova near maximum brightness, obtained from observations of…

We show that the explosive transition of the neutron star (NS) to a quark star (QS) (a Quark Nova) in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) a few days following the SN proper can account for several of the puzzling kinematic and nucleosynthetic features…

A large amount (about three solar masses) of cold (18 K) dust in the prototypical type II supernova remnant Cassiopeia A was recently reported. It was concluded that dust production in type II supernovae can explain how the large quantities…

HST ACS images of the young SN remnant Cas A are used to explore the expansion and spatial distribution of its highest velocity debris. Proper motions of over 1800 outlying ejecta knots are reported. The distribution of transverse expansion…

We investigate a possible depiction of the famous SN 1054 event in specially minted coins produced in the Eastern Roman Empire in 1054 A.D. On these coins, we investigate if the head of the Emperor, Constantine IX, might represent the Sun…

Broadband optical and narrowband Si XIII X-ray images of the young Galactic supernova remnant Cas A obtained over several decades are used to investigate spatial and temporal correlations on both large and small scales. The data consist of…

Massive stars in binaries can give rise to extreme phenomena such as X-ray binaries and gravitational wave sources after one or both stars end their lives as core-collapse supernovae. Stars in close orbit around a stellar or compact…

Cassiopeia A, one of the most intriguing galactic supernova remnants, has been a target of many observational efforts including most recent observations by ALMA, Hubble, Herschel, Spitzer, NuSTAR, Integral, and other observatories. We use…

The central pointlike X-ray source of the Cas A supernova remnant was discovered in the Chandra First Light Observation and found later in the archival ROSAT and Einstein images. The analysis of these data does not show statistically…

October 2004 marks the 400th anniversary of the sighting of SN 1604, now marked by the presence of an expanding nebulosity known as Kepler's supernova remnant. Of the small number of remnants of historical supernovae, Kepler's remnant…

We introduce a million-second observation of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The bipolar structure of the Si-rich ejecta (NE jet and SW counterpart) is clearly evident in the new images, and their…

We investigate possible reasons for the absence of historical records of the supernova of 1054 in Europe. At the same time, we search for the new evidences as well. We establish that the previously acclaimed 'Arabic' records from ibn Butlan…

The remnant of the historical supernova SN 1181 is under discussion: While the previously suggested G130.7+3.1 (3C58) appears too old (3000-5000 yr), the unusual star IRAS 00500+6713 with a surrounding nebula (Pa-30) has an expansion age…

The cooling rate of young neutron stars gives direct insight into their internal makeup. Although the temperatures of several young neutron stars have been measured, until now a young neutron star has never been observed to decrease in…

(abridged) We report our discovery and observations of the peculiar Type IIn supernova SN2006gy in NGC1260, revealing that it reached a peak magnitude of -22, making it the most luminous supernova ever recorded. It is not yet clear what…

We present a review of the first six years of Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of supernova remnants. From the official "first-light" observation of Cassiopeia A that revealed for the first time the compact remnant of the explosion,…

The available historical records of supernovae occurring in our own Galaxy over the past two thousand years are reviewed. These accounts include the well-recorded supernovae of AD 1604 (Kepler's SN), 1572 (Tycho's SN), 1181, 1054 (which…