Webb observes birth of baby neutron star from remains of a dead sun

The James Webb Space Telescope has for the first time observed a neutron star taking shape amid the wreckage of a massive star explosion.

Nasa said that the supernova, known as SN 1987A, was a core-collapse supernova, which means that the compacted remains at its core formed either a neutron star or a black hole. This is the first time that the effects of high-energy emission from the probable young neutron star have been detected.

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The supernova, the explosion of the star, happened 1,60,000 light-years away from Earth and was first observed on Earth in February 1987. According to Nasa, it was the first supernova that could be seen with the naked eye since Kepler’s Supernova was observed in 1604.

Back in 1987, observatories detected a 10-second burst of tiny particles called neutrinos, hours before SN 1987A was observed in visible light. Based on this pattern, astronomers’ models demonstrated that a neutron star or black hole should have formed in the explosion.

Now, nearly 37 years after the first detection, the James Webb Space Telescope has given the first conclusive proof that there exists a neutron star within the wreckage of this giant explosion.

A neutron star is a highly compact and dense astronomical object that is formed from the remnants of a massive star after a supernova explosion. Neutron stars are incredibly dense, packing about 1.4 to 2.16 times the mass of the Sun into a sphere with a diameter of only about 10 to 20 kilometers.

Scientists captured simultaneous images and spectra of SN 1987A with Webb in July 2022 making it one of the very first objects seen by Webb, using an instrument mode where a spectrum is taken for every image pixel. “Analysis revealed a signature of ionized argon from near the center of the remnant that could only be created by a source of high-energy radiation. According to the research team, only a few scenarios are likely, and all of them involve a baby neutron star,” Webb’s team said.

More observations are planned this year, with Webb and ground-based telescopes.