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.

2017 September 19
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Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Exploded Star

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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 ve times the size of the full
Moon. The featured picture is a Hubble Space Telescope mosaic of six images together covering a span of only about two light years, a small part of the expansive
supernova remnant. In images of the complete Veil Nebula, even studious readers might not be able to identify the featured laments.

Tomorrow's picture: the big corona

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