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Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Explanation:
Driven
by the explosion of a massive star,
supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the
surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away.
At that distance,
this
colorful telescopic field based on broadband and narrowband
optical image data is about 60 light-years across.
As the supernova remnant expands into its
clumpy, non-uniform surroundings, shocked filaments
of oxygen atoms glow in green-blue hues.
Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red.
Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by
the collapse of the massive
star's core, would have reached
Earth about 3,700 years ago.
The Puppis A remnant is actually seen through
outlying emission from the closer but more ancient
Vela supernova remnant, near the
crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy.
Still glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum
Puppis A remains one of the brightest sources
in the X-ray sky.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: supernova remnant
Publications with words: supernova remnant
See also: