The universe is full of amazing works of nature that exist light years away that we can barely appreciate with the naked eye. Thanks to scientific advancements and technology, we’re able to see the beauty that space has to offer.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the remnants of a destroyed star shimmer of the Veil Nebula. It formed 8,000 years ago after a star 20 times our Sun died in a supernova. Hubble took pictures of the Veil Nebula in 1997 and the new images not only provide astronomers with some insight on how the nebula has changed over the years, but also given us a breathtaking view of another part of the universe.
The European Space Agency said in a statement: “Astronomers suspect that before the Veil Nebula’s source star exploded, it expelled a strong stellar wind. This wind blew a large cavity into the surrounding interstellar gas. As the shock wave from the supernova expands outwards, it encounters the walls of this cavity and forms the nebula’s distinctive structures. Bright filaments are produced as the shock wave interacts with a relatively dense cavity wall, whilst fainter structures are generated by regions nearly devoid of material.”
The different colors are the result of varying temperatures and densities in the nebula’s chemical structure. According to researchers, areas that appear blue are hotter than the red or green features in the nebula.
