Posted on Apr 14, 2021
APOD: 2021 April 14 - The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave
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Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave." We travel to the Southern Hemisphere this morning and the constellation Vela. The Pencil Nebula (NGC 2736) is part of the larger Vela Supernova Remnant (VSR), and was first noted in 1835 by John Herschel.
The VSR is the debris cloud produced by an exploding star some 11,000 years ago. How do we know this? The VSR is also home to the "brightest' (in terms of radio frequencies) object in the sky: the Vela Pulsar. Researchers at the University of Sydney (Australia) first associated the VSR with the Vela Pulsar (a neutron star) in 1968. This provided the first direct observational evidence that supernovae explosions produce neutron stars.
The filaments we see in this image were produced by the initial shock wave of the stellar collapse that produced the Vela Pulsar. As it races through the expanding debris field, the shock wave ionizes lighter elements and fuses them into heavier ones. The reds and blues shown here (respectively) track the presence of ionized hydrogen and ionized oxygen. Separate x-ray observations from NASA's Chandra Observatory have given us a glimpse at the Vela Pulsar itself: 12 miles in diameter, spinning 10 times per second, and denser than our own Sun. Makes wobbling muons seem easier to understand now, doesn't it?
The VSR is the debris cloud produced by an exploding star some 11,000 years ago. How do we know this? The VSR is also home to the "brightest' (in terms of radio frequencies) object in the sky: the Vela Pulsar. Researchers at the University of Sydney (Australia) first associated the VSR with the Vela Pulsar (a neutron star) in 1968. This provided the first direct observational evidence that supernovae explosions produce neutron stars.
The filaments we see in this image were produced by the initial shock wave of the stellar collapse that produced the Vela Pulsar. As it races through the expanding debris field, the shock wave ionizes lighter elements and fuses them into heavier ones. The reds and blues shown here (respectively) track the presence of ionized hydrogen and ionized oxygen. Separate x-ray observations from NASA's Chandra Observatory have given us a glimpse at the Vela Pulsar itself: 12 miles in diameter, spinning 10 times per second, and denser than our own Sun. Makes wobbling muons seem easier to understand now, doesn't it?
APOD: 2021 April 14 - The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave
Posted from apod.nasa.gov
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Zooming in on the Pencil Nebula
This video starts with a wide field view of the spectacular southern part of the Milky Way. We close in gradually on a large bubble-shaped region of glowing ...
Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Wednesday, April 14, 2021 entitled "The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave."
This colorized image reminded me of a Man-of-War jellyfish :-)
In one sense the Pencil Nebula is less threatening than a Man-of-War :-) However if we were there it could be more threatening :-)
In any event this image of a segment of the heavens brings to mind the scriptures reminding us that what God has prepared for HIS own is more wonderful than we can imagine.
Image:
1. The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave - Image Credit & Copyright - Greg Turgeon & Utkarsh Mishra
2. Man of War photo by Phyllis Saroff3
3. Man-of-War beached.
APOD background
"Explanation: This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Near the middle and moving up in this sharply detailed color composite, thin, bright, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge-on. Cataloged as NGC 2736, its elongated appearance suggests its popular name, the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 5 light-years long and 800 light-years away, but represents only a small part of the Vela supernova remnant. The Vela remnant itself is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the shock wave was moving at millions of kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up surrounding interstellar material. In the featured narrow-band, wide field image, red and blue colors track, primarily, the characteristic glows of ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms, respectively."
Zooming in on the Pencil Nebula
This video starts with a wide field view of the spectacular southern part of the Milky Way. We close in gradually on a large bubble-shaped region of glowing gas in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). This is the Vela supernova remnant, gas clouds that were ejected from a dying star in a huge explosion about 11 000 years ago. The final detailed view comes from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JOEJ2spjC0
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen LTC (Join to see)MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Sgt Albert Castro PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SSG Samuel Kermon SSG Franklin Briant SP5 Geoffrey Vannerson SMSgt David A Asbury A1C Riley SandersSPC Michael Oles SR TSgt David L. Maj Marty Hogan SMSgt Tom Burns SGT Herbert Bollum SGT Denny Espinosa
This colorized image reminded me of a Man-of-War jellyfish :-)
In one sense the Pencil Nebula is less threatening than a Man-of-War :-) However if we were there it could be more threatening :-)
In any event this image of a segment of the heavens brings to mind the scriptures reminding us that what God has prepared for HIS own is more wonderful than we can imagine.
Image:
1. The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave - Image Credit & Copyright - Greg Turgeon & Utkarsh Mishra
2. Man of War photo by Phyllis Saroff3
3. Man-of-War beached.
APOD background
"Explanation: This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Near the middle and moving up in this sharply detailed color composite, thin, bright, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge-on. Cataloged as NGC 2736, its elongated appearance suggests its popular name, the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 5 light-years long and 800 light-years away, but represents only a small part of the Vela supernova remnant. The Vela remnant itself is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the shock wave was moving at millions of kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up surrounding interstellar material. In the featured narrow-band, wide field image, red and blue colors track, primarily, the characteristic glows of ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms, respectively."
Zooming in on the Pencil Nebula
This video starts with a wide field view of the spectacular southern part of the Milky Way. We close in gradually on a large bubble-shaped region of glowing gas in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). This is the Vela supernova remnant, gas clouds that were ejected from a dying star in a huge explosion about 11 000 years ago. The final detailed view comes from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JOEJ2spjC0
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen LTC (Join to see)MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Sgt Albert Castro PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SSG Samuel Kermon SSG Franklin Briant SP5 Geoffrey Vannerson SMSgt David A Asbury A1C Riley SandersSPC Michael Oles SR TSgt David L. Maj Marty Hogan SMSgt Tom Burns SGT Herbert Bollum SGT Denny Espinosa
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LTC Stephen F.
Simply Red - Stars (Official Video)
The second single to be taken from 1991's Stars album and one of the most memorable hits of the 90s. A live favourite and one of the songs that helped Stars ...
Simply Red - Stars (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izOdvBmTDh0
FYI CSM Bruce TregoSPC Woody Bullard CPL Douglas ChryslerCpl (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SPC Michael TerrellSSG Paul Headlee SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D SSG Michael Noll SPC Randy Zimmerman Sgt Albert Castro Sgt Vance Bonds Cpl Vic Burk PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SSgt Clare May SPC Diana D. Capt Christian D. Orr SP5 Gary Nelson SSG Bill McCoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izOdvBmTDh0
FYI CSM Bruce TregoSPC Woody Bullard CPL Douglas ChryslerCpl (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SPC Michael TerrellSSG Paul Headlee SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D SSG Michael Noll SPC Randy Zimmerman Sgt Albert Castro Sgt Vance Bonds Cpl Vic Burk PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SSgt Clare May SPC Diana D. Capt Christian D. Orr SP5 Gary Nelson SSG Bill McCoy
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Totally off the wall greatness shared Maj William W. 'Bill' Price , have a great Wednesday sir.
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