Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 November 2
                                      [2]
                      Cygnus Shell Supernova Remnant W63
      Image Credit & Copyright [3] : J-P Metsavainio (Astro Anarchy [4] )

Explanation: The ghost of a long-dead star [5] , the W63 supernova remnant
shines like a faint cosmic smoke-ring along the plane of the Milky Way galaxy
toward the northern constellation Cygnus [6]  the swan. Its wraithlike
appearance is traced against the region's [7]  rich complex of interstellar
clouds and dust by an eerie blue glow. Spanning over four full moons on the
sky, the beautiful image [8] is a telescopic mosaic in twelve panels that
combines 100 hours of exposure time using narrow band filters. It shows
characteristic light from ionized atoms of sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen in red,
green, and blue hues. Likely over 5,000 light-years away, the visible part of
the still expanding [9] shell supernova remnant is around 150 light-years in
diameter. So far no source has been identified as with the remains [10] of
W63's original star. Light from the star's supernova explosion [11]  would
have reached Earth over 15,000 years ago [12] .

                        Tomorrow's picture: shadow play

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [24] (MTU [25] ) & Jerry Bonnell [26]
                                  (UMCP [27] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [28] .
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              A service of: ASD [30]  at NASA [31]  / GSFC [32]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [33]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1811/CygnusSupernovaremnantW63.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] http://www.astroanarchy.blogspot.com/
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/ the-fading-ghost-of-a-long-dead-star
  [6] ap070920.html
  [7] http://aspmonographs.org/a/volumes/ article_details?paper_id=3
  [8] https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2018/10/
a-very-rare-photo-cygnus-shell.html
  [9] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0311530
  [10] http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2018/kes75/
  [11] http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/super...
  [12] https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/?#abs/1977A%26A...
  [13] ap181101.html
  [14] archivepix.html
  [15] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [16] lib/aptree.html
  [17] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [18] calendar/allyears.html
  [19] /apod.rss
  [20] lib/edlinks.html
  [21] lib/about_apod.html
  [22] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [23] ap181103.html
  [24] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [26] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [27] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [28] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [29] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [30] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [31] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [33] http://www.mtu.edu/

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