From Space.com: Image of the Day, the remnants of a supernova, IC443:
Glowing clouds of gas and dust are all that remain of the immense supernova that signaled a distant star’s end.
This supernova remnant, known as IC443, sits about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the Gemini constellation. The object is a well-studied target for astronomers, who believe the supernova explosion should have left a stellar corpse in the form of a neutron star at the heart of the remnant.
Astronomers used the MegaCam wide-field camera and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to capture this view of IC 426 from the summit of Hawaii’s dormant volcano Mauna Kea.
This image was provided by Jean-Charles Cuillandre of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and Giovanni Anselmi of Coelum Astronomia.
It looks like a giant sea creature is streaming out to menace the galaxy. Wait, how do we know that's not a giant sea creature?
Ooooo-OOO-ooooo.
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3 comments:
That's the alternate theory of star death. They become giant space squids....
I find that theory compelling.
This one is often called the jellyfish by amateur astronomers. I understand its very dim. I've never seen it in the backyard 'scope. I doubt that my sky is dark enough to see it.
Backyard Astronomer
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