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Collection:
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NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Cygnus Loop Supernova Blast Wave
Title
Cygnus Loop Supernova Blast Wave
Title
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Full Description:
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This is an image of a small portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which marks the edge of a bubble-like, expanding blast wave from a colossal stellar explosion, occurring about 15,000 years ago. The HST image shows the structure behind the shock waves, allowing astronomers for the first time to directly compare the actual structure of the shock with theoretical model calculations. Besides supernova remnants, these shock models are important in understanding a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, from winds in newly-formed stars to cataclysmic stellar outbursts. The supernova blast is slamming into tenuous clouds of insterstellar gas. This collision heats and compresses the gas, causing it to glow. The shock thus acts as a searchlight revealing the structure of the interstellar medium. The detailed HST image shows the blast wave overrunning dense clumps of gas, which despite HST's high resolution, cannot be resolved. This means that the clumps of gas must be small enough to fit inside our solar system, making them relatively small structures by interstellar standards. A bluish ribbon of light stretching left to right across the picture might be a knot of gas ejected by the supernova; this interstellar "bullet" traveling over three million miles per hour (5 million kilometres) is just catching up with the shock front, which has slowed down by ploughing into interstellar material. The Cygnus Loop appears as a faint ring of glowing gases about three degrees across (six times the diameter of the full Moon), located in the northern constellation, Cygnus the Swan. The supernova remnant is within the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and is 2,600 light-years away. The photo is a combination of separate images taken in three colors, oxygen atoms (blue) emit light at temperatures of 30,000 to 60,000 degrees Celsius (50,000 to 100,000 degrees Farenheit). Hydrogen atoms (green) arise throughout the region of shocked gas. Sulfur atoms (red) form when the gas cools to around 10,000 degrees Celsius (18,000 degrees Farenheit).
Full_Description
This is an image of a small portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which marks the edge of a bubble-like, expanding blast wave from a colossal stellar explosion, occurring about 15,000 years ago. The HST image shows the structure behind the shock waves, allowing astronomers for the first time to directly compare the actual structure of the shock with theoretical model calculations. Besides supernova remnants, these shock models are important in understanding a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, from winds in newly-formed stars to cataclysmic stellar outbursts. The supernova blast is slamming into tenuous clouds of insterstellar gas. This collision heats and compresses the gas, causing it to glow. The shock thus acts as a searchlight revealing the structure of the interstellar medium. The detailed HST image shows the blast wave overrunning dense clumps of gas, which despite HST's high resolution, cannot be resolved. This means that the clumps of gas must be small enough to fit inside our solar system, making them relatively small structures by interstellar standards. A bluish ribbon of light stretching left to right across the picture might be a knot of gas ejected by the supernova; this interstellar "bullet" traveling over three million miles per hour (5 million kilometres) is just catching up with the shock front, which has slowed down by ploughing into interstellar material. The Cygnus Loop appears as a faint ring of glowing gases about three degrees across (six times the diameter of the full Moon), located in the northern constellation, Cygnus the Swan. The supernova remnant is within the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and is 2,600 light-years away. The photo is a combination of separate images taken in three colors, oxygen atoms (blue) emit light at temperatures of 30,000 to 60,000 degrees Celsius (50,000 to 100,000 degrees Farenheit). Hydrogen atoms (green) arise throughout the region of shocked gas. Sulfur atoms (red) form when the gas cools to around 10,000 degrees Celsius (18,000 degrees Farenheit).
Full Description
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Date:
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01/01/1993
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NASA Center:
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Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA_Center
Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA Center
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Subject Category:
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Deep Space Studies
Subject_Category
Deep Space Studies
Subject Category
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Subject Category:
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Hubble
Subject_Category
Hubble
Subject Category
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Keywords:
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Space
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Keywords:
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Telescope
Keywords
Telescope
Keywords
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Keywords:
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Hubble
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Keywords:
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HST
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Keywords:
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Milky
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Keywords:
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Way
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Keywords:
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Galaxy
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Keywords:
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Supernova
Keywords
Supernova
Keywords
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Audience:
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General Public
Audience
General Public
Audience
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cygnus
facet_what
Cygnus
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS)
facet_what
Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS)
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Arizona
facet_where
Arizona
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
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facet_when:
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01-01-1993
facet_when
01-01-1993
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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1993
facet_when_year
1993
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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PR93-01
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original_url:
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original_url
original_url
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UID:
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SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0992
UID
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0992
UID
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Center:
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HSTI
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Center Number:
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PR93-01
Center_Number
PR93-01
Center Number
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GRIN DataBase Number:
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GPN-2000-000992
GRIN_DataBase_Number
GPN-2000-000992
GRIN DataBase Number
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Creator-Photographer:
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NASA, J.J. Hester Arizona State University
Creator-Photographer
NASA, J.J. Hester Arizona State University
Creator-Photographer
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Original Source:
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DIGITAL
Original_Source
DIGITAL
Original Source
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