NASA telescope maps supernova remnant’s turbulent magnetic fields for first time

NASA's IXPE (short for Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) telescope has captured the polarized X-ray imagery of the supernova remnant SN 1006 for the first time.

SN 1006 is located some 6,500 light-years from Earth in the Lupus constellation and is considered the brightest stellar event in recorded history.

"Magnetic fields are extremely difficult to measure, but IXPE provides an efficient way for us to probe them," said Dr Ping Zhou, an astrophysicist at Nanjing University in Jiangsu, China, and lead author of a new paper on the findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal. Now we can see that SN 1006’s magnetic fields are turbulent, but also present an organized direction.

The remnant features a strange double structure that is markedly different from other, rounded supernova remnants. It also boasts bright limbs or edges identifiable in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands. Its unique structure is tied to the orientation of its magnetic field, and scientists theorize that supernova blast waves in the northeast and southwest move in the direction aligned with the magnetic field, and more efficiently accelerate high-energy particles.

The polarization properties obtained from our spectral-polarimetric analysis align remarkably well with outcomes from other methods and X-ray observatories, underscoring IXPE's reliability and strong capabilities, said Dr. Yi-Jung Yang, a high-energy astrophysicist at the University of Hong Kong and coauthor of the paper.

Since its December 2021 launch, IXPE has observed three supernova remnants, Cassiopeia A, Tycho, and now SN 1006, helping scientists better understand the origin and processes of the magnetic fields surrounding these phenomena.

What surprised researchers is that SN 1006 is more polarized than the other two supernova remnants, but all three show magnetic fields oriented such that they point outward from the center of the explosion. 

More than 1,000 years ago, the brightest stellar event in recorded history dazzled skygazers worldwide. SN 1006 still intrigues astronomers, and our IXPE telescope recently mapped the supernova remnant's turbulent magnetic fields for the first time: https://t.co/s7ReMNpmjQ pic.twitter.com/FIERA81WcJ

— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) October 26, 2023