Named for Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum [
http://en.wikipedia…] (1924-1960), The Gum Nebula [
http://www.southern…] is so large and close it is actually hard to see. In fact [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], we are only about 450 light-years from the front edge and 1,500 light-years from the back edge of this cosmic cloud of glowing hydrogen gas. Covered in this 41 degree-wide [
http://canopus.phys…photo.cgi?Image=imag es/Vela_50mm_HaRGB_1 000 ] mosaic of H-alpha [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] images, the faint emission region is otherwise easy to lose against the background of Milky Way stars. The complex [
http://adsabs.harva…nph-bib_query?bibcod e=1993A&A...280..231 S ] nebula is thought to be a supernova remnant [
http://chandra.harv…supernovas.html ] over a million years old, sprawling across [
http://hawastsoc.or…] the southern constellations Vela and Puppis. Sliding your cursor over this spectacular wide field view will reveal the location of objects embedded in The Gum Nebula, including the Vela supernova remnant [
http://www.aao.gov.…uks002.html ].
Explanation
Named for Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum [
http://en.wikipedia…] (1924-1960), The Gum Nebula [
http://www.southern…] is so large and close it is actually hard to see. In fact [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], we are only about 450 light-years from the front edge and 1,500 light-years from the back edge of this cosmic cloud of glowing hydrogen gas. Covered in this 41 degree-wide [
http://canopus.phys…photo.cgi?Image=imag es/Vela_50mm_HaRGB_1 000 ] mosaic of H-alpha [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] images, the faint emission region is otherwise easy to lose against the background of Milky Way stars. The complex [
http://adsabs.harva…nph-bib_query?bibcod e=1993A&A...280..231 S ] nebula is thought to be a supernova remnant [
http://chandra.harv…supernovas.html ] over a million years old, sprawling across [
http://hawastsoc.or…] the southern constellations Vela and Puppis. Sliding your cursor over this spectacular wide field view will reveal the location of objects embedded in The Gum Nebula, including the Vela supernova remnant [
http://www.aao.gov.…uks002.html ].
Explanation
