Supernovae are created from the explosions of the largest stars in the Universe, and the remnants they leave behind may be shaped by bubbles formed from radioactive metal.

Cassiopeia A, better known as Cas A, has been studied extensively. It lies around 11,000 light years from our home planet. But it still has a few surprises left.

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Astronomers at Harvard-Smithsonian and Dartmouth College utilized the 13-foot telescope at Kitt Peak Nation Observatory in Arizona to take images of Cas A and record movement of gas within the structure. Spectroscopy allowed them to see the objects in three dimensions.

When the star that created Cas A exploded more than 11,000 years ago, the powerful blast sent a mixture of radioactive materials into the gas cloud surrounding the dying stellar body. Determining how the massive forces exerted by the blast interacted with surrounding matter requires virtual models that challenge the world's most powerful supercomputers.

"We're like the bomb squad. A bomb's gone off and I want to understand how that bomb exploded. So when I go in the room, the first thing I'm going to say is: Where did the debris go? Did it go in all directions equally or did it go in some directions preferentially, like a pipe bomb or something? That's step one. And that's what we've done here," said Dan Milisavljevic, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

Researchers believe their examinations of gaseous caverns within Cassiopeia could help astronomers understand the processes that trigger supernovae.

The interactive version of the 3D map of Cassiopeia A is can be viewed in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Web site.

Tagssupernovae, Supernova, Cassiopeia A, Cas A, Stars, space exploration, universe explosion supernova