Chandra Release - May 12, 2016

Visual Description: Tycho's Supernova Remnant

The motion graphic features X-ray and optical images of Tycho's Supernova Remnant. Astronomers used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory data from 2000 through 2015 to create the longest movie at the time of the Tycho remnant's X-ray evolution over time, using five different observations. The dominant colors in the X-ray image are shades of blue and golden-green, set on a backdrop of white optical stars in a black sky. The overall shape of the remnant resembles a sphere or a ball, with a yellowish-green center surrounded by a bluish-purple halo. Key structures within the remnant include filaments and protrusions, delicate structures that appear to come towards the viewer.  This timelapse shows that the expansion from the explosion is still continuing about 450 years later, as seen from Earth's vantage point roughly 10,000 light years away.