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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Треугольник Виллиамины Флеминг http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1912618/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Cristiano Gualco
Explanation:
These chaotic and tangled filaments of shocked, glowing gas are spread across
planet Earth's sky toward the constellation of Cygnus as part of the
Veil Nebula.
The Veil Nebula itself is a large
supernova remnant, an expanding
cloud born of the death explosion of a massive star.
Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached
Earth over 5,000 years ago.
The glowing filaments are really more like long ripples in a sheet seen
almost edge on, remarkably well separated into
the glow of ionized hydrogen atoms shown in red and oxygen in blue hues.
Also known as the
Cygnus Loop and cataloged as
NGC 6979, the
Veil Nebula now spans about 6 times the diameter of the
full Moon.
The length of the wisp corresponds to about 30
light years,
given its estimated distance of 2,400 light years.
Often identified as Pickering's Triangle
for a director of
Harvard College Observatory, it
is perhaps better named for its discoverer,
astronomer Williamina Fleming, as
Fleming's
Triangular Wisp.
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