In their initial phases of research on supernovae, two scientists at the University of Texas at Arlington, US, are trying something new – using SNSPH computer code to develop 3D simulations of a core-collapse supernova evolving into remnants.

SNSPH is a parallel three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics code developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, US. Researchers are taking a broad look at astronomy data, and using existing tools to connect numerically simulated supernova explosions and their expanding blast waves.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory, a space telescope launched by NASA in 1999 to provide data about supernova remnants, has contributed to current work with SNSPH. Researchers trace the history of remnants by noting clear differences between debris ejected from the exploded star and pre-existing material swept up in the blast.

The full article appears on the University of Texas at Arlington’s website.

- Amber Harmon