Explanation:
Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught in
this
alluring telescopic view.
Drifting near bright star
Eta
Geminorum, at the foot of a
celestial
twin, the Jellyfish Nebula is seen
dangling tentacles from the bright arcing ridge of emission
left of center.
In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped
supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding
debris cloud from a
massive
star that exploded.
Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth over 30,000 years
ago.
Like its cousin in astrophysical waters the
Crab Nebula
supernova remnant, IC 443 is known to harbor
a neutron star, the remnant of the collapsed stellar core.
The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away.
At that distance, this image would be about 100 light-years
across.
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