A N.C. State scientist led the study that uncovered the most recent supernova, which is 140 years old.

Photo courtesy of NASA

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It's only 140 years old, NCSU announced today.

Previously, the youngest supernova, or exploding star, in the Milky Way galaxy dates back to 1680 — making it more than twice as old as the latest discovery, according to NASA.

Stephen Reynolds, an astrophysicist, led a team of researchers who compared images of a celestial object in the Milky Way — scientists call it G1.9+0.3 — taken last year and in 1985. That confirmed Reynolds' theory that the object was the remnant of a young supernova.

The comparison also showed that it had increased in size by 16 percent during that 22-year span, enabling scientists to calculate that the initial explosion occurred, at most, 140 years ago. If the rate of expansion slowed down over the years, it's even younger.

"My best estimate is that it's 100 years old," said Reynolds. "140 is the upper limit."

The discovery is significant because, the younger the supernova, the easier it is to study how the star exploded and what it was made of, said Reynolds.

Many of the chemical elements in the periodic table of elements, including the iron in our blood and the calcium in our bones, were forged in supernova explosions, said Reynolds.

"We are made of supernova stuff," he said. "In a sense it is our roots."

"Supernovas also are the source of the cosmic rays that rain down on the earth as we speak," Reynolds added.

Some supernovae, including G1.9+o.3, aren't visible with optical telescopes because interstellar "murk" — gas and dust — obscure them, said Reynolds. But X-ray and radio telescopes can overcome that by detecting the radio waves and X-rays they emit.

The discovery will be published in the June 10 edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Because a supernova at this stage hasn't been studied before, it's unclear what scientific secrets it will yield.

It may be written in the stars, but it's not in plain English.