In this artist's conception, the light of a hypothetical supernova in our Galaxy has reflected off of interstellar gas to create a "light echo," visible as a glowing ring behind the Earth-Moon system. Astronomers have discovered several such light echoes in the nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. Such echoes give scientists the possibility of studying ancient supernovae that exploded hundreds of years ago. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)
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In this artist's conception, a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud has created a light echo visible from a hypothetical Jupiter-sized planet. In principle, astronomers can split the light echo into a spectrum to investigate what type of supernova occurred. Obtaining a spectrum would allow them to determine the star's cause of death. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)
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