On this #SupernovaSunday, explore a youthful 'star wreck.’ While performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxy's central regions, NASA's Swift satellite uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star. Designated G306.3–0.9 after the coordinates of its sky position, the new object ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy. It is the blue object on the bottom left of this image. Astronomers estimate that a supernova explosion occurs once or twice a century in the Milky Way. The expanding blast wave and hot stellar debris slowly dissipate over hundreds of thousands of years, eventually mixing with and becoming indistinguishable from interstellar gas. This image places G306.3–0.9 in context with star-formation regions in southern Centaurus. Chandra X-ray observations (blue), Spitzer infrared data (red, cyan), and radio observations (purple) from the Australia Telescope Compact Array are merged in this composite. The image is one degree a...