                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

                               2022 January 13

                        Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Dain

   Explanation: It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping,
   twisting filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis
   147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname,
   the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations
   Taurus and Auriga, it covers nearly 3 degrees or 6 full moons on the
   sky. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's
   estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite includes image
   data taken through narrow-band filters where reddish emission from
   ionized hydrogen atoms and doubly ionized oxygen atoms in faint
   blue-green hues trace the shocked, glowing gas. The supernova remnant
   has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from the
   massive stellar explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago. But the
   expanding remnant is not the only aftermath. The cosmic catastrophe
   also left behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar, all that remains of
   the original star's core.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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