Astronomy Picture of the Day - Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Ancient Supernova

NASA ^ | 2 Jun, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Alharbi

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova, leaving the Veil Nebula. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright as a crescent Moon, remaining visible for weeks to people living at the dawn of recorded history. Today, the resulting supernova remnant, also known as the Cygnus Loop, has faded and is now visible only through a small telescope directed toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus). The remaining Veil Nebula is physically huge, however, and even though it lies about 1,400 light-years distant, it covers over five times the size of the full Moon. The featured picture was taken in Kuwait in mid-2024 and features light emitted by hydrogen in red and oxygen in blue. In deep images of the complete Veil Nebula like this, even studious readers might not be able to identify the iconic filaments.

[MtnClimber]

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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.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[Red Badger]

Looks like an enraged Chimpanzee.................

[MtnClimber]

Looks like an enraged Chimpanzee.................

Close. It looks like an enraged Ghettopotamous that dropped her cheeseburger into the dirt and does not like the crunchy sand.

See how I worked a cheeseburger into the description?

[No name given]

Wow.

[null and void]

Looks like an enraged Chimpanzee.................

Or an angry woman in a burka....

[Red Badger]

That’s a distinction without a difference..............

[bankwalker]

in the court of the crimson king ...

[bert]

Both analogies are wrong.

The fact is, we don't know with certainty what we can now see with amazing clarity. Those who make a living studying such photos speculate but can only make guesses based on very limited real knowledge.

[telescope115]

Celestial fireworks!

[dragnet2]

Eastern Veil Nebula...What's left of a star that went supernova and detonated in a cataclysmic explosion thousands of years ago. 1hr24mn.

FAFO Observatory, AZ

[Huskrrrr]

Thanks, very nice.