Princeton University

Alicia Soderberg
Principal Author
"An Extremely Luminous X-ray Outburst Marking the Birth of a Supernova"
Nature, May 22, 2008
Carnegie-Princeton Fellow and Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow
Princeton University
Image 1: Click to download
Image 2: Click to download

Lynn Cominsky
Moderator
NASA Swift Press Officer
Professor and Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Director, NASA Education and Public Outreach Programs
Sonoma State University
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Neil Gehrels
NASA Swift Principal Investigator
Chief, Astroparticle Physics Laboratory
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Robert Kirshner
Independent Commentator
Harvard College Professor of Astronomy and Clowes Professor of Science
Harvard University
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Annotated images show observations taken on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9, 2008.

For Jan. 7, 2008: Scientists had planned on studying Supernova 2007uy in the galaxy NGC2770, which was already several weeks old when seen in this visual ultraviolet image taken on Jan. 7, 2008, by NASA's Swift satellite. A close-up, X-ray image of that supernova is below it.

For Jan. 9, 2008: Seemingly out of nowhere, Supernova 2008D burst onto the scene on Jan. 9, 2008, as seen in ultraviolet images and X-ray images taken by NASA's Swift satellite, giving scientists the unique opportunity to witness the birth of a supernova.

Credit: Images courtesy of NASA Swift Team
 
Click to download annotated images
Click to download high-resolution frame Jan. 7, 2008, Ultraviolet
Click to download high-resolution frame Jan. 7, 2008, X-ray
Click to download high-resolution frame Jan. 9, 2008, Ultraviolet
Click to download high-resolution frame Jan. 9, 2008, X-ray

Digital renderings captured from a video animation show a representation of a supernova in the act of exploding.

Click to download frame one
Click to download frame two
Click to download frame three