 |
 |
The Pencil Nebula is an outlying portion of the Vela supernova remnant located some 800 light years away toward the constellation Vela. The nebula was formed as the result of a supernova explosion some 12,000 years ago and is one of the cloest of all supernova remnants. The nebula is named because of its long, thin appearance on photographs. In this image, blue results from ionized Oxygen, and red results from ionized Hydrogen and ionized Nitrogen. The rippled appearance of the nebula results from clumpiness of the interstellar material encountered by the supernova shock wave. The nebula was discovered by the English astronomer Sir John Herschel in the 1840s.
Image courtesy of Space Telescope Science Institute. |
|
|
|
