Researchers discovered evidence that supernovae can produce materials that lead to the formation of planets, such as Earth.
An international team of scientists used equipment at NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to take infrared images of an interstellar dust cloud known as Supernova Remnant Sagittarius A East (SNR Sgr A East).
"Our observations reveal a particular cloud produced by a supernova explosion 10,000 years ago contains enough dust to make 7,000 Earths," said Ryan Lau of Cornell University.
The team of scientists used the data to estimate the total mass of dust in the cloud as well as the intensity of the emissions. Researchers already knew supernovaes' shock waves can produce an impressive amount of dust, but were not sure if these particles could survive the effects of "rebound" shock waves that occur when the outward-shock comes into contact with the interstellar gas and dust.
"The dust survived the later onslaught of shock waves from the supernova explosion, and is now flowing into the interstellar medium where it can become part of the 'seed material' for new stars and planets," Lau said.
The findings also suggest dust spotted in distant galaxies is actually the product of supernova explosions of early massive stars.
"This discovery is a special feather in the cap for SOFIA, demonstrating how observations made within our own Milky Way galaxy can bear directly on our understanding of the evolution of galaxies billions of light years away," said Pamela Marcum, a SOFIA project scientist at Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
These findings are published in the March 19 online issue of Science magazine.
