Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of The Vela Supernova Remnant | Víctor Blanco Telescope

Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of The Vela Supernova Remnant | Víctor Blanco Telescope

This colorful web of wispy gas filaments is the Vela Supernova Remnant, an expanding nebula of cosmic debris left over from a massive star that exploded about 11,000 years ago. This image was taken with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the US National Science Foundation's 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. 

The striking reds, yellows, and blues in this image were achieved through the use of three DECam filters that each collect a specific color of light. Separate images were taken in each filter and then stacked on top of each other to produce this high-resolution image that contains 1.3 gigapixels and showcases the intricate web-like filaments snaking throughout the expanding cloud of gas.

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Release Date: March 12, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #SupernovaRemnant #VelaSupernovaRemnant #Nebula #Vela #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #DECam #CerroTololoObservatory #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #DOE #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #UnitedStates #STEM #Education