           APOD: 2018 January 11 - RCW 114: A Dragon s Heart in Ara

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 January 11
                                      [2]
                      RCW 114: A Dragon's Heart in Ara
              Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Andrew Campbell [4]

Explanation: Large and dramatically shaped [5] , this cosmic cloud spans
nearly 7 degrees or 14 full moons across planet Earth's sky [6]  toward the
southern constellation Ara. Difficult to image, the filamentary apparition is
cataloged as RCW 114 and traced in this telescopic mosaic by the telltale
reddish emission of ionized hydrogen atoms. In fact, RCW 114 has been
recognized as a supernova remnant [7] . Its extensive filaments of emission
[8] are produced as the still expanding shockwave from the death explosion of
a massive star sweeps up the surrounding interstellar medium. Consistent
estimates [9]  place its distance at over 600 light-years, indicating a
diameter of about 100 light-years or so. Light from the supernova explosion
that created RCW 114 would have reached Earth [10]  around 20,000 years ago. A
neutron star or pulsar has recently been identified [11]  as the collapsed
remains of the stellar core.

                      Tomorrow's picture: blue comet [12]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [24] (MTU [25] ) & Jerry Bonnell [26]
                                  (UMCP [27] )
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1801/RCW114_FBcambell.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] https://www.facebook.com/AndysAstropix/
  [5] https://www.astrobin.com/328424/0/?nc=user
  [6] ap090411.html
  [7] http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/supernovas.html
  [8] ap160715.html
  [9] https://arxiv.org/abs/0912.2156
  [10] http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/intro/ lookbacktimesim.html
  [11] https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.02517
  [12] ap180112.html
  [13] ap180110.html
  [14] archivepix.html
  [15] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [16] lib/aptree.html
  [17] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [18] calendar/allyears.html
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  [20] lib/edlinks.html
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  [22] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180111
  [23] ap180112.html
  [24] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [26] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
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  [28] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
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