While appearing as a delicate and light
veil draped across the sky, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space
Telescope actually depicts a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast
wave, located around 2,400 light-years away. The name of the supernova
remnant comes from its position in the northern constellation
of Cygnus (the Swan), where it covers an area 36 times larger than
the full Moon.
The
original supernova explosion blasted apart a dying star about 20
times more massive than our Sun between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. Since
then, the remnant has expanded 60 light-years from its center. The shockwave
marks the outer edge of the supernova remnant and continues to expand at around
220 miles per second. The interaction of the ejected material and the
low-density interstellar material swept up by the shockwave forms the
distinctive veil-like structure seen in this image.
Text
credit: ESA (European Space Agency)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; acknowledgment: Leo Shatz
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; acknowledgment: Leo Shatz
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