Cassiopeia A, is now a supernova after its violent explosive death. The fact that Cassiopeia A is now a supernova tells us that it was an extremely massive star during its lifetime. The light from this massive explosion reached Earth 330 years ago. This is because this supernova lies at a distance of 11,000 light years away from Earth. The extremely dense, collapsed core is a nuetron star, and it is classified as a white dwarf while it is cooling. Once it cools completely it will be a black dwarf. The rapid cooling of this star has made astronomers come to beleive that this core may be secreting a nuetron superfluid. This stunning image is an X ray/optical composite image.
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