Exploring the Impact of Supernovae on the Formation of Galaxies with INFUSE Mission

Sunday - October 29 2023, 15:37 UTC - 1 year ago

NASA is launching a mission called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment (INFUSE) from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2023, to study up close a stellar phenomenon called the Cygnus Loop, a relic of a star that imploded 20,000 years ago when it burst into a supernova. INFUSE will observe how the supernova dumps energy into the Milky Way, and will measure the locations of the elements and identify their temperatures. The mission is an integral part in understanding how material from supernovas becomes part of planets and creatures like us.

In order to comprehend how explosive stellar deaths create the foundation for new star systems, a new sounding rocket mission is being launched into space by NASA. The mission is called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment, or INFUSE, and it is set to launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2023, and head for space to get a closer look at a stellar phenomenon called the Cygnus Loop.

An integral field spectrograph, INFUSE is the first of its kind instrument to be sent into orbit and combines the advantages of spectroscopy and imaging, two approaches to investigating light. It will be researching the Cygnus Loop which is located close to the well-known constellation Cygnus.

The relic of a star known as Cygnus Loop .

Cygnus is often referred to as the "Swan" and is frequently shown in classical representations as a bird with its wings spread wide. The northern hemisphere is home to Cygnus, which is visible from mid-spring to late October on earth. Above Cygnus’ wing lies Cygnus Loop, also known as the Veil Nebula.

The relic of a star that was once 20 times larger than our Sun, Cygnus Loop imploded under the force of its own gravity about 20,000 years ago, bursting into a supernova. Astronomers predict that the light burst would have been so powerful that it would have been visible from earth during the day despite being located 2,600 light-years away.

The Cygnus Loop presents itself as a delicate and intricate network of glowing filaments and wispy structures of gas and dust. These structures are a result of the shockwaves generated by the supernova explosion interacting with the surrounding interstellar medium.

A supernova still in action .

The Cygnus Loop offers a unique view of a supernova explosion that is still happening. The huge cloud is still growing today, spanning more than 120 light-years and spreading at a speed of about 930,000 miles per hour (about 1.5 million kilometres per hour).

"Supernovae like the one that created the Cygnus Loop have a huge impact on how galaxies form," said Brian Fleming, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and principal investigator for the INFUSE mission.

"INFUSE will observe how the supernova dumps energy into the Milky Way by catching light given off just as the blast wave crashes into pockets of cold gas floating around the galaxy." .

Fleming and his colleagues will use the data from INFUSE to determine the locations of the various elements along the Cygnus Loop’s shock front and identify their temperatures.

"With these first-of-their-kind measurements, we will better understand how these elements from the supernova mix with the environment around them. It’s a big step toward understanding how material from supernovas becomes part of planets like Earth and even people like us," said lead graduate student Emily Witt, also at CU Boulder, who will lead the data analysis.