Look: Telescope captures the ghostly view of a nearby dying star

Spooky by Jennifer Walter Updated: Feb. 20, 2024 Originally Published: November 2, 2022 ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Around 11,000 years ago, humans began shifting from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to form the first agricultural societies at the dawn of the Neolithic Period.

ZU_09/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

It was also around that time when a massive star exploded deep in space. The star was located just 800 light years from Earth and would have burst apart in a blinding supernova . NASA via Giphy

The explosion left behind the Vela supernova remnant, which has been spreading for thousands of years.

Shutterstock Today, the aftermath of the supernova is visible via telescope.

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit Most recently, the European Southern Observatory’s ground-based VLT Survey Telescope captured a stunning portrait of the remnant.

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit On Halloween, the ESO released its ghostly new view:

Here’s the full image of the Vela supernova remnant

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit Tendrils of cosmic dust and gas wrap themselves in web-like shapes as bright stars glow in the foreground and background.

Bright shades of magenta, blue, red, and green represent light captured by different filters the telescope used to illuminate vivid details. ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

The ESO also shared these close-up details from around the remnant.

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Here are a few more sections.

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Studying remnants like this one helps researchers better understand the lives and deaths of stars.

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit And thanks to the relatively young age of the Vela remnant — and its close proximity to Earth — telescopes have a front-row seat to the ever-changing terrain of a star’s explosive end.

Look: Telescope captures the ghostly view of a nearby dying star

Around 11,000 years ago, humans began shifting from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to form the first agricultural societies at the dawn of the Neolithic Period.

The explosion left behind the Vela supernova remnant, which has been spreading for thousands of years.

Here’s the full image of the Vela supernova remnant

The ESO also shared these close-up details from around the remnant.

Here are a few more sections.

Studying remnants like this one helps researchers better understand the lives and deaths of stars.

Thanks for reading, head home for more!

Thanks for reading,
head home for more!