The Vela Supernova Remnant | ESO's VLT Survey Telescope

The Vela Supernova Remnant | ESO's VLT Survey Telescope

This image shows stringy clouds of hot pink and golden orange, nested together all over the frame, almost like the messy fragments of a spider’s web. Close to these colorful clouds, we find bright blue massive stars. In between the clouds there are gaps, revealing stars in blue and yellow, almost like sparklers.

This image shows a spectacular view of the orange and pink clouds that make up what remains after the explosive death of a massive star—the Vela supernova remnant. This detailed image consists of 554 million pixels, and is a combined mosaic image of observations taken with the 268-million-pixel OmegaCAM camera at the VLT Survey Telescope, hosted at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory. 

OmegaCAM can take images through several filters that each let the telescope see the light emitted in a distinct color. To capture this image, four filters have been used, represented here by a combination of magenta, blue, green and red. The result is an extremely detailed and stunning view of both the gaseous filaments in the remnant and the foreground bright blue stars that add sparkle to the image.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/VPHAS+ team

Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Release Date: October 31, 2022

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