Fireworks in the Sky
Glowing gaseous streamers of red, white, and blue - as well as green and pink - illuminate the heavens like Fourth of July fireworks. The colorful streamers that float across the sky in this photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope were created by the universe's biggest firecracker, the titanic supernova explosion of a massive star.
The light from the exploding star reached Earth 320 years ago. The dead star's shredded remains are called Cassiopeia A, or 'Cas A' for short. Cas A is the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy and resides 10, 000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, so the star actually blew up 10, 000 years before the light reached Earth in the late 1600s.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0215a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 3 July 2002, 06:00 |
| Size: | 2226 x 1453 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant • Nebulae Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 11000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Ultraviolet B |
450 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical R |
675 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Infrared Z |
850 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
