Luxagraf

Stunning images from the Hubble telescope of the Veil Nebula. From Space.com:

“Only 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, a star familiar to human observers detonated and burned with a brightness comparable to that of a crescent moon-an event visible even in broad daylight.”

“The dead star’s name may be lost, but its shattered remains are known as the Veil Nebula or Witch’s Broom Nebula. Now, the Hubble Space Telescope has given astronomers three extreme close-ups of the supernova remnants’ wispy clouds of dust and gas still careening into space some 1,500 light-years away from Earth.”

“The Hubble close-ups reveal the rope-like filaments of gas in the nebula, which resulted from enormous amounts of dusty debris plowing into gaseous surroundings. Thicker filaments of material result from viewing the supernova’s shock wave edge-on, while more wispy and diffuse views correspond to a face-on view of other parts of the shock wave from Earth.”

Visit Site: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070731_veil_nebula.html