NASA's Hubble Telescope clicks breath-taking picture of scattered 'stellar shrapnel'

A stunning image of scattered ‘stellar shrapnel’ has been captured by the US space agency NASA’s Hubble Telescope. The spectacular and mesmerising picture shows the aftermath of a star that exploded 160,000 light-years away from Earth. NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 has captured this striking picture.

According to NASA, the event took place thousands of years ago after a star detonated and scattered the steller shrapnel. The star was a white dwarf belonging to neighbouring galaxy called the Magellanic Cloud.

Around 97 per cent of the stars in the Milky Way often become white dwarfs. They may go through various situations, including the explosion as supernovae, which is one of the brightest events ever observed in the universe. 

Being a part of binary star system, the white dwarf can draw material from a close companion. After it siphons more than the limit, it ignites as a Type Ia supernova. The supernova remnant seen in the picture went through the similar phase, known as DEM L71.

“Around 97 percent of stars within the Milky Way that are between a tenth and eight times the mass of the sun are expected to end up as white dwarfs. These stars can face a number of different fates, one of which is to explode as supernovae, some of the brightest events ever observed in the universe. If a white dwarf is part of a binary star system, it can siphon material from a close companion. After gobbling up more than it can handle — and swelling to approximately one and a half times the size of the sun — the star becomes unstable and ignites as a Type Ia supernova,” said NASA.