Explanation:
It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this
detailed
mosaic image of faint
supernova remnant Simeis 147.
Also cataloged as Sh2-240 and
seen towards the constellation
Taurus,
it covers nearly 3 degrees (6 full moons) on the sky.
That corresponds to a width of 150 light-years at
the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years.
The remarkable composite includes image data taken through
narrow-band filters to highlight emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms
tracing regions of shocked, glowing gas.
This 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 this 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.
