April 25, 2016
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
Supernova Remnant Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula
Birthday · April 25, 2016
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APOD published April 25, 2016. Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello (Italy) and Tim Stone (USA). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
It's easy to get lost following the intricate strands of the Spaghetti Nebula. A supernova remnant cataloged as Simeis 147 and Sh2-240, the glowing gas filaments cover nearly 3 degrees -- 6 full moons -- on the sky. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This sharp composite includes image data taken through a narrow-band filter to highlight emission from hydrogen atoms tracing the shocked, glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from the massive stellar explosion first reached Earth about 40,000 years ago. But the expanding remnant is not the only aftermath. The cosmic catastrophe also left behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar, all that remains of the original star's core.
Image credit: Giuseppe Donatiello (Italy) and Tim Stone (USA)