850-year-old supernova remnant Pa 30 is full of gas knots

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA new Gemini North telescope image of Pa 30, the remnant of a supernova seen in 1181, shows chains of tiny gas knots, Live Science reports.

2. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorTiny.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorTiny for space. Each knot is wide enough to fit our whole solar system inside it several times, according to the Gemini North release.

4. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo there are chains of things that could swallow our entire solar system, and they've been hanging there since before the Magna Carta.

5. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorI find that very settling.

6. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd the lead researcher, Timothy Cunningham of the University of Warwick, says the structure is not what they expected.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorEight centuries of looking, and nobody expected the knots.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThere's a surviving star almost exactly in the middle, which is highly unusual. The explosion went off and it just stayed put.

9. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorDead center. If it ends up being anything like Hank, nothing will ever move it.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAstronomers in China and Japan wrote this one down in 1181. They did fine. We're the ones who got surprised.

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