超新星遗迹Simeis 147

2024年2月27日

Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

Explanation: It’s easy to get lost following the intricate, looping, and twisting filaments of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240, the filamentary nebula goes by the popular nickname the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. That’s about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud’s estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite image includes data taken through narrow-band filters isolating emission from hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this massive stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left behind a pulsar: a spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the original star’s core.

Tomorrow’s picture: how night falls

超新星遗迹Simeis 147
影像提供与版权: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

说明: 在这张超新星遗迹Simeis 147的细致影像里，视线很容易迷失在繁复的弯曲环状结构里。编录号亦为Sh2-240的Simeis 147，更常见的昵称是意大利面星云。位于金牛座和御夫座交界方向的Simeis 147，涵盖了将近3度（6个满月宽度）的天区。以这团恒星碎片云3,000光年的估计距离来换算，它的跨幅大约为150光年。这幅组合影像，整合了窄波段氢辐射（红）及氧辐射（蓝）的影像数据。这个超新星遗迹的估计年龄大约是40,000年，也就是说，来自这例大质量恒星爆炸的亮光，大约在40,000年前首次传到地球，而当时真猛犸象仍在地球上漫游。不过，这团不停扩张的碎片云，并不是此例天体爆炸事件唯一的余荫；此恒星的核心也孑遗下来，形成称为波霎的快速自转中子星。