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.

                                2021 April 5
   A closeup image of the Veil Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

                   Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Exploded Star
                  Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Z. Levay

   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 five 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 filaments.

                     Tomorrow's picture: sisters of mars
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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