A stellar graveyard in the sky

What’s left over after a massive star reaches the end of its life I hear you ask? Take a look for yourself. This Picture of the Week shows a small but very intricate portion of the Vela supernova remnant, the violent and yet beautiful aftermath of an explosive stellar death. 

This dramatic scene played out around 11 000 years ago when a massive star in the constellation Vela went supernova. During this violent event, the star would have shined so brightly that it could be seen during the day.

The detailed and stunning view of both the gaseous filaments in the remnant and the bright blue stars in the foreground were captured using the 286-million-pixel OmegaCAM at the VLT Survey Telescope, hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. OmegaCAM can take images through several filters that each let the telescope observe the light emitted in a distinct colour. To capture this image, four filters have been used, represented here by a combination of magenta, blue, green and red.

Crédit:

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

À propos de l'image

Identification:potw2347a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:20 novembre 2023 06:00
Taille:6404 x 6578 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Vela Supernova Remnant
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Constellation:Vela
Catégorie:Nebulae

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
12,5 Mio
JPEG taille écran
416,0 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
354,5 Kio
1280x1024
538,7 Kio
1600x1200
730,6 Kio
1920x1200
829,0 Kio
2048x1536
1,1 Mio

Coordinates

Position (RA):8 30 52.83
Position (Dec):-43° 55' 35.28"
Field of view:23.55 x 24.18 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° right of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineLongueur d'ondeTélescope
Ultraviolet
u
360 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Visible
g
480 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Visible
r
625 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Visible
i
770 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Visible
H-alpha
659 nmVery Large Telescope
OmegaCAM