AUI News Release
VLA Data Featured on New Argentine Stamp
Stars are born, evolve and die. Some slowly turn off while others end their days with catastrophic explosions. Such an explosion is called a 'supernova,' and at the instant of the explosion the star shines with the light of a hundred million stars. The remains of the destroyed star expand through space, creating beautiful nebulae called "supernova remnants" that shine for thousands of years.
Issued in a series celebrating the 50th anniversary of Argentina's Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, this postal stamp shows the remains of a supernova that astronomers call W44. It was produced when a star exploded about 10 thousand years ago at a distance of 95 million billion kilometers from Earth (10,000 light years).
