Dark Energy Camera captures remains of a massive star that exploded nearly 11,000 years ago in huge gigapixel image
Published Date: 3/12/2024
Source: phys.org
This colorful web of wispy gas filaments is the Vela Supernova Remnant, an expanding nebula of cosmic debris left over from a massive star that exploded about 11,000 years ago. Located around 800 light-years away in the constellation Vela (the Sails), this nebula is one of the nearest supernova remnants to Earth. Though the unnamed star ended its life thousands of years ago, the shockwave its death produced is still propagating into the interstellar medium, carrying glowing tendrils of gas with it.