February 12, 2011
Some stars end in silence, some in fire, and some leave behind the raw materials for birthdays.
Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
Birthday · February 12, 2011
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APOD published February 12, 2011. Credit: Nobuhiko Miki. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this detailed mosaic image of faint supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sh2-240 and seen towards the constellation Taurus, it covers nearly 3 degrees (6 full moons) on the sky. That corresponds to a width of 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. The remarkable composite includes image data taken through narrow-band filters to highlight emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms tracing regions of shocked, glowing gas. This supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years - meaning light from the massive stellar explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago. But this 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: Nobuhiko Miki