New Gemini North observations show that the firework-like streaks in Pa 30 are not smooth strands: they resolve into filaments made of tightly packed, remarkably uniform gas knots. The remnant is linked to the supernova recorded in 1181, and the images sharpen its structure—but do not yet explain how the knots formed.
What the new images reveal
Pa 30’s ejecta have been described as bright, firework-like streaks. In the new observations, those streaks break into narrow filaments lined with pearl-like knots. The knots appear strikingly similar in size. Ilaria Caiazzo, an assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), said each is large enough for the planetary region of our solar system to fit inside it about ten times with room to spare.
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These are structures inferred from light emitted by gas in the nebula, not photographs of solid objects. The team observed Pa 30 with the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai‘i. The observatory sits above 4,200 meters and is one half of the International Gemini Observatory; its twin, Gemini South, is in Chile. NSF NOIRLab runs the observatory.
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How the team resolved the filaments
The researchers analyzed emission from ionized sulfur (S II) in red light and doubly ionized oxygen (O III), represented in blue-green tones. The S II observations resolved roughly ten times as many filamentary features as earlier images could distinguish. The increase is a difference in visible detail, not evidence that the nebula itself suddenly developed more filaments.
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The findings were published in 2026 in The Astrophysical Journal as “Detection of knots in the supernova type Iax remnant Pa 30,” by Tim Cunningham, Ilaria Caiazzo, J. C. Raymond, and S. J. Kenyon. The image is credited to International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. ISTA’s October 6, 2026 release describes the observations as the most detailed view of the remnant yet.
Why Pa 30 is unusual
Pa 30 lies about 7,500 light-years away and is associated with a supernova witnessed in 1181 and recorded independently in Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic historical sources. The nebula itself was identified in 2013 by a citizen scientist. ISTA describes it as one of only five supernovae recorded before the telescope era whose remnants had long remained unidentified.
The report calls Pa 30 the only known remnant of its kind in the Milky Way. It is classified as a Type Iax supernova remnant, a rare category associated with an incomplete explosion. A surviving stellar remnant—sometimes informally called a “zombie star”—sits near the center of the nebula. A collision between two white dwarfs has been proposed as the origin of the explosion, but that explanation is not established as settled fact.
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The observations establish the knots’ appearance and arrangement; the ISTA release does not identify the physical process that produced them or explain why their sizes are so similar. Caiazzo said, “The knots are quite strikingly uniform. We are excited to try to model them.” That leaves the chains as a clear observational result and their formation mechanism as an open question.
Pa 30’s proximity also makes it unusually useful for examining a surviving stellar remnant alongside its surrounding nebula. Cunningham, now an assistant professor at the University of Warwick, said the findings could help astronomers search large datasets for other candidates: “Our findings will help us screen through the enormous datasets.” He noted that similar remnants could be present but not yet identified in the Milky Way.
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