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Credit & Copyright: Josö Mtanous
Explanation:
The explosion is over, but the consequences continue.
About twelve thousand years ago, a relatively normal star in the constellation
Vela suddenly
exploded,
creating a strange point of light briefly visible to
humans living near the beginning of
recorded history.
The outer layers of the star crashed into the
interstellar medium, driving a
shock wave that is still visible today.
The
featured image,
taken piecemeal over 60 hours from the
Khomas Region of
Namibia,
captures some of that filamentary and gigantic shock in
visible light, with details highlighted by
hydrogen (red) and
oxygen (blue) emissions.
As gas flies away from the detonated star, it
decays and reacts with the
interstellar medium,
producing light in many different colors and energy bands.
Remaining at the center of the
Vela Supernova Remnant is a
pulsar, a star as dense as nuclear matter that
spins around
more than ten times in a single second.
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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: Vela - supernova remnant
Publications with words: Vela - supernova remnant
See also:
- Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula
- Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
- APOD: 2026 January 19 Á CTB 1: The Medulla Nebula
- APOD: 2026 January 7 Á Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant
- APOD: 2025 October 1 Á NGC 6960: The Witchs Broom Nebula
- APOD: 2025 June 9 Á Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
- APOD: 2025 January 8 Á Supernova Remnants Big and Small