Astronomers using the 268-million-pixel OmegaCAM instrument on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope have captured a detailed image of the Vela supernova remnant, a remnant of supernova explosion located in the constellation of Vela.
This image, taken by the OmegaCAM camera at ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope, shows a spectacular view of the orange and pink clouds that make up the Vela SNR. OmegaCAM can take images through several filters that let through light of different colors. In this particular image of the Vela SNR, four different filters were used, represented here by a combination of magenta, blue, green and red. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team / Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.
The Vela supernova remnant (Vela SNR for short) is one of the best studied supernova remnants in the sky.
Its progenitor star exploded between 11,000 and 12,300 years ago in the southern constellation of Vela.
The association of this supernova remnant with the Vela pulsar, made by Australian astronomers in 1968, was the direct observational evidence that supernovae form neutron stars.
“At only 800 light-years away from Earth, this dramatic supernova remnant is one of the closest known to us,” ESO astronomers said.
“The wispy structure of pink and orange clouds is all that remains of a massive star that exploded at least 11,000 years ago.”
“When the most massive stars reach the end of their life, they often go out with a bang, in an outburst called a supernova.”
“These explosions cause shock waves that move through the surrounding gas, compressing it and creating intricate thread-like structures.”
“The energy released heats the gaseous tendrils, making them shine brightly, as seen in this image.”
“In this image, we get an extremely detailed view of the Vela SNR,” they added.
“You could fit nine full Moons in this entire image, and the whole cloud is even larger.”
“As it exploded, the outermost layers of the progenitor star were ejected into the surrounding gas, producing the spectacular filaments that we observe here.”
“What remains of the star is an ultra-dense ball in which the protons and electrons are forced together into neutrons — a neutron star.”
“The neutron star in the Vela SNR, placed slightly outside of this image to the upper left, happens to be a pulsar that spins on its own axis at an incredible speed of more than 10 times per second.”
