Time-Lapse Video Shows Actual Stellar Explosion From 1901

Phil Plait over at Slate posted this time-lapse video from a series of images of the GK Persei supernova, which exploded and became visible to the naked eye from Earth in 1901.

When the light first reached Earth it was very bright, even visible with the naked eye. Over time it faded, but the remnants of the supernova, gaseous knots of fiery gas, can still be seen with telescopes. Those are the images the researchers used to make the video.

"From then the visual spectacle has been similar to that of a firework display seen in slow motion," study researcher Miguel Santander, of the Spanish National Observatory, said in a press release.

When the star exploded it sent gas and dust spewing out at 620 miles per second. Those gas flows are still going, and can be seen in the animation below glowing in an ever expanding ring. The video below was just published in the Astrophysical Journal.