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Credit & Copyright: Pierre Konzelmann
Explanation:
What powers this unusual nebula?
CTB 1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia
exploded about 10,000 years ago.
The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create
stabilizing pressure with
nuclear fusion.
The resulting
supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its
brain-like shape, still glows in
visible light
because of the heat generated by its collision with confining
interstellar gas.
Why
the nebula also glows in
X-ray light, though,
remains a topic of research.
One hypothesis holds that an energetic
pulsar
was created and powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind.
Following this lead, a pulsar was
found in
radio waves
that appears to have
been expelled by the
supernova explosion
at over 1000 kilometers per second.
Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a
full moon,
it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure with
a small telescope in
Texas,
USA, to create the
featured image.
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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: nebula - supernova remnant
Publications with words: nebula - supernova remnant
See also:
- APOD: 2026 January 7 â Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant
- APOD: 2025 October 1 â NGC 6960: The Witchs Broom Nebula
- APOD: 2025 June 9 â Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
- APOD: 2025 March 18 â LDN 1235: The Shark Nebula
- Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
- APOD: 2025 January 8 â Supernova Remnants Big and Small
- APOD: 2024 September 18 â The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant