Supernova Explosion Sends Star's Core Across Galaxy.
Astronomers have discovered a dead star, PSR J1914+1054g, rocketing away from its birth supernova, leaving a comet-like trail of radio emission in its wake. The star is just the fourth known of its kind: a radio pulsar kicked at high velocity across space, for which astronomers have observed not just the pulsar but the trail behind it known as a bow-shock nebula, and the supernova remnant from which it was kicked. The discovery will help astronomers better understand pulsars and their winds, supernova explosions, the local interstellar medium, high-speed particles, and wind-generated shocks.