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Credit & Copyright: JosÈ JoaquÌn Perez
Explanation:
This shock wave plows through interstellar space
at over 500,000 kilometers per hour.
Near the top and moving up in this
sharply detailed color composite, thin, bright, braided filaments
are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas
seen almost edge-on.
Cataloged
as NGC 2736, its elongated appearance
suggests its popular name,
the Pencil Nebula.
The Pencil Nebula is about 5 light-years long and 800
light-years away,
but represents only a small part of the
Vela
supernova remnant.
The Vela remnant itself
is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding
debris
cloud of a star that was seen to
explode about 11,000 years ago.
Initially, the
shock wave was moving at millions of kilometers
per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up
surrounding interstellar material.
In the featured narrow-band, wide field image,
red and blue colors track the characteristic glow of
ionized hydrogen and
oxygen atoms, respectively.
Growing Galleries:
Launch
of the Parker Solar Probe and
Perseid
Meteor Shower 2018
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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:
- APOD: 2024 September 18 Á The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant
- APOD: 2024 April 16 Á Filaments of the Vela Supernova Remnant
- APOD: 2024 April 3 Á Unusual Nebula Pa 30
- APOD: 2024 March 25 Á Sonified: The Jellyfish Nebula Supernova Remnant
- APOD: 2024 February 27 Á Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
- The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave
- APOD: 2023 December 26 Á IC 443: The Jellyfish Nebula