Cygnus Loop Supernova Shockwave
NASA, HST, WFPC2, Jeff Hester
15,000 years ago a star in the constellation of Cygnus exploded. This picture
shows a portion of a shockwave from this
supernova explosion still expanding
past nearby stars. The collision of this gaseous shockwave with
a stationary gas cloud has heated the gas causing it to
glow in a spectacular array of colors, known as the Cygnus Loop.
This picture was taken with
the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the
Hubble Space Telescope.