Explanation:
It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this
detailed
image of faint
supernova remnant Simeis 147.
Seen towards the constellation
Taurus
it covers nearly 3 degrees (6
full moons) on the sky corresponding to a width of 150 light-years at
the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years.
The above image is a color composite of 66 blue and red color band images from the
National Geographic Palomar Observatory Sky Survey taken with the wide field
Samuel Oschin 48-inch Telescope.
The area of the sky shown covers over 70 times the area of the full Moon.
This supernova remnant has an apparent age of about 100,000
years - meaning light from the massive stellar explosion first
reached Earth 100,000 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.
