A powerful telescope used by NASA has spotted the remnants of an erupted star just 11,000 light-years away from Earth.

The remnants are known as ‘supernova remnant Cassiopeia A’. Scientists claim the supernova remnant formed in the final stages of the star’s existence when the star ran out of fuel and eventually collapsed in on itself and erupted.

A supernova is the glowing debris of a star that has erupted. The remains resemble a spectacular array of scattered neon lights.

It’s estimated this explosion happened around 1680. With the supernova remnants clustering the space which the star once filled ever since.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory snapped an image of the supernova remains when they first spotted them in 1999 and have shared another image 20 years later.

A spokesman for the US space agency said,

“Shortly after Chandra was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, astronomers directed the observatory to point toward Cas A.

It was featured in Chandra's official ‘First Light’ image, released August 26, 1999, and marked a seminal moment not just for the observatory, but for the field of X-ray astronomy.”

Sources:

1. Express.

2. Space Telescope.

3. Sci-News.