A supernova remnant in the heart of the Milky Way – Media Inaf

June 15, 2026 – NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton have identified a patch of X-ray emission that could be the remnant of a star that exploded as a supernova, approximately 26,000 light-years away. If confirmed, it would be one of the closest supernova remnants to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Our astrophysicist Gabriele Ponti of the INAF Brera Institute also contributed to the study.

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L’immagine composita include raggi X raccolti da Chandra e Xmm-Newton (blu) e dati radio dal telescopio MeerKat (rosso) in Sudafrica, combinati con un’immagine ottica dai telescopi Pan-Starrs alle Hawaii (rosso, verde e blu). Crediti: Chandra, Xmm, MeerKat
The composite image includes X-rays collected by Chandra and XMM-Newton (blue) and radio data from the MeerKat telescope (red) in South Africa, combined with an optical image from the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawaii (red, green, and blue). Credits: Chandra, XMM, MeerKat