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Credit & Copyright: César Blanco
González
Explanation:
Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught in
this alluring telescopic mosaic.
The scene is anchored right and left by two bright stars,
Mu
and
Eta
Geminorum, at the foot of the
celestial
twin while
the Jellyfish Nebula is the brighter arcing
ridge of emission with dangling tentacles below and right of center.
In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped
supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding
debris cloud from a
massive
star that exploded.
Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth over 30,000 years
ago.
Like its cousin in
astrophysical waters the
Crab Nebula
supernova remnant, the Jellyfish Nebula is
known
to harbor a neutron star, the remnant of the collapsed stellar core.
An emission nebula cataloged as Sharpless 249 fills the
field at the upper left.
The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away.
At that distance,
this narrowband composite image
would be about 300 light-years across.
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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: emission nebula - supernova remnant
Publications with words: emission nebula - supernova remnant
See also: