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Page last updated at 19:58 GMT, Wednesday, 3 December 2008

A replay of the 1572 supernova

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This animation shows a reconstructed view of Tycho Brahe's supernova, beginning in 1572 and ending in the present day.

Following a titanic thermonuclear blast, material is ejected into interstellar space at an incredibly high velocity - up to 30,000 kilometres per second (19,000 miles per second).

Over the last four centuries, the debris have expanded to a diameter of more than 20 light years.

The final image, from the Chandra and Spitzer Space Telescopes, shows gas millions of degrees hot, as well as heated dust particles.

Footage courtesy of Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie

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