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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
NASA ^ | 17 Jan, 2024 | Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton Unive

Posted on 01/17/2025 1:15:53 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light 11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the still hot filaments and knots in the supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding blast wave is about 20 light-years across. A series of light echoes from the massive star's cataclysmic explosion are also identified in Webb's detailed images of the surrounding interstellar medium.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 01/17/2025 1:15:53 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/17/2025 1:16:17 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 01/17/2025 1:17:22 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Here she is rocking that midi-skirt.....
4 posted on 01/17/2025 1:24:58 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

Betcha that left a mark!


5 posted on 01/17/2025 1:33:12 PM PST by econjack
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To: MtnClimber

would make a nicce wallpaper


6 posted on 01/17/2025 2:00:53 PM PST by Bob434
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To: MtnClimber

Back when I was designing satellite ground station antennas, we would always use Cass A for a strong microwave source to calibrate with.


7 posted on 01/17/2025 5:35:57 PM PST by doorgunner69 (Your oath of enlistment has no expiration date)
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To: MtnClimber
At first, I thought I was looking at a different species of covid-19


8 posted on 01/17/2025 5:58:55 PM PST by Deaf and Discerning (als)
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