Swan Peak. This is the poetic name that astronomers give to the remnants of a supernova that appeared in our sky about 20,000 years ago. The diameter of this remnant, approximately 1,500 light-years from Earth, has now reached 120 light-years and is continuing to expand.
Herschel’s Swan Point at Hubble
Swan Lace was first observed in 1784 by German-British astronomer William Herschel and his “modest” 18-inch telescope. Today, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers were able to magnify the remains of this supernova supernova.
A supernova that continues to expand
They show a structure reminiscent of folds in the sheets of a bed on the edge of the Cygne tip, in the zone where the shock wave from the star’s supernova explosion penetrates the surrounding matter. Folds extend about two light years across the images. And travel continuously through space for at least 20 years at the dizzying speed – for us, not necessarily for a supernova – of more than half a million kilometers per hour.