13
Jan
2018
Messier 1 is probably the most famous supernova remnant. A big star that reached the end of its life and exploded, sending shockwaves of gas outwards into the void. The remnant of a star, which became a pulsar, produces very strong magnetic fields, causing what looks like tubes or connections inside the nebula along the magnetic lines.
It is estimated, that this star exploded roughly 7500 years ago, and is 6500 light years away from us. Which means the supernova explosion was observable 1000 years ago from earth. A chinese astronomer actually documented a very bright star in the year 1054, which was so bright you could even see it during daytime! Astronomers think that it was actually this supernova explosion that caused that bright light 1000 years ago on earth.