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January 10, 2012

The center of a nearby supernova remnant, named SNR 0509-67.5, lacks a companion star.

This image shows that the central region of this supernova remnant, SNR 0509-67.5, is empty of stars, allowing researchers to rule out a number of possible models for the original supernova system. In this image, the stars appear as white dots on the black sky, while the red ring is gas ejected by the supernova eruption close to 400 years ago.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)


Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

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