Chandra Release - February 13, 2008

Visual Description: SN 2007on in NGC 1404

This is a 2-panel image of supernova SN 2007on in the elliptical galaxy NGC 1404. The elliptical galaxy appears to be peaking up just partially from the bottom of the screen in both panels with the supernova circled towards the edge of the galaxy, in the middle of the frame.  The left panel contains X-ray data, colored in bright blue, looking lit up in the galaxy center, surrounded by some blue dots. The right panel is optical data of the same field of view, colored in bright gold, also looking lit up in the galaxy center, but a bit fuzzier and dimmer. These images show evidence for the possible detection of a binary star system that was later destroyed in a supernova explosion. The right panel shows the SWIFT image, obtained with the optical/UV monitor. At the center of the images is the supernova SN 2007on, originally discovered by the 0.25-m robotic telescope TAROT at La Silla in November 2007. The left panel shows the Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the same field taken 4 years before the supernova was detected.   SN 2007on was a Type Ia supernova, an important class of object used to measure the expansion of the Universe. They are generally agreed to be produced by the explosion of a white dwarf star in a binary star system.