Cassiopeia A, a Supernova Remnant (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

Cassiopeia A, a Supernova Remnant

Caption

In 2007 NASA's Spitzer space telescope found the infrared signature of silica (sand) in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The light from this exploding star first reached Earth in the 1600s. The cyan dot just off center is all that remains of the star that exploded.

Credit

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ O. Krause (Steward Observatory)

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