Posted on 03/21/2013 3:48:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Moving left to right near the center of this beautifully detailed color composite, the thin, bright, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge on. The interstellar shock wave plows through space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Cataloged as NGC 2736, its elongated appearance suggests its popular name, the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 5 light-years long and 800 light-years away, but represents only a small part of the Vela supernova remnant. The Vela remnant itself is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the shock wave was moving at millions of kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up surrounding interstellar material. In the narrowband, wide field image, red and blue-green colors track the characteristic glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
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As always, it’s beautiful! (Who can NOT believe in God when seeing this stuff?)
MAGNIFICENT!!!
You look at things like that and you realize how insignificant earth is and you as well. Like a dot compared to Betelgeuse - the largest sun near us; three times the size of our sun.
It’s beautiful, and APOD is working for me again, and thank you for the ping, Mr. Civilizations. You’re the best!
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