NuSTAR Media Teleconference

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February 19, 2014

NASA will host a news teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 19, to announce new observations from its high-energy X-ray mission, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR).

The findings reveal new information about supernovas, the tremendous explosions that mark the ends of massive stars' lives.

Audio and visuals will be streamed live online at:http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

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The briefing participants are:

Paul Hertz
Director of NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington
› Bio

Fiona Harrison
NuSTAR principal investigator, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, Calif.
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Brian Grefenstette
Astronomer, Caltech
› Bio

Robert Kirshner
Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.
› Bio

Paul Hertz

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Fiona Harrison

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Brian Grefenstette

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Hertz 1 - Two of NASA’s X-ray missions complement each other. The Chandra X-ray Observatory sees low-energy X-ray light; and NuSTAR sees high-energy X-ray light. Both are important for understanding supernovas, black holes and other energetic objects in space.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Harrison 1 - This is the first map of radioactivity in a supernova remnant, the blown-out bits and pieces of a massive star that exploded. The blue color shows radioactive material mapped in high-energy X-rays using NuSTAR.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/CXC/SAO

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Harrison 2 - NuSTAR is complementing previous observations of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant (red and green) by providing the first maps of radioactive material forged in the fiery explosion (blue).

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/CXC/SAO

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Harrison 3 - These illustrations show the progression of a supernova blast. A massive star (left), which has created elements as heavy as iron in its interior, blows up in a tremendous explosion (middle), scattering its outer layers in a structure called a supernova remnant (right).

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NASA/CXC/SAO/JPL-Caltech

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Harrison 4 - This diagram illustrates why NuSTAR can see radioactivity in the remains of exploded stars for the first time. The observatory detects high-energy X-ray photons that are released by a radioactive substance called titanium-44.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Grefenstette 1 - NuSTAR has, for the first time, imaged the radioactive "guts" of a supernova remnant, the leftover remains of a star that exploded. The NuSTAR data are blue.

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Grefenstette 2 - Two popular models describing how massive stars explode are shown in the top panels, with each calling for a different explosive trigger: either jets (left) or a sloshing effect. The NuSTAR data at the bottom right panel match the sloshing scenario better than the jet-driven model.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/CXC/SAO/SkyWorks Digital/Christian Ott

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Grefenstette 4 - When astronomers first looked at images of a supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A captured by NuSTAR, they were shocked. The pattern of radioactive titanium they observed does not match the pattern of heated iron seen previously by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (left).

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Grefenstette 3 - NuSTAR has provided the first observational evidence in support of a theory that says exploding stars slosh around before detonating. That theory, referred to as mild asymmetries, is shown here in a simulation by Christian Ott of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

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Christian Ott, Caltech

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