Celestial Fireworks
What better way to celebrate the New Year than with some fireworks?
This celestial light show is 10,000 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. Viewed here in infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths, we see a whole range of colors created by one of the Universe’s biggest fireworks: a supernova.
The supernova remnant is known as Cassiopeia A (Cas A), and the light from this pyrotechnic display reached Earth 330 years ago. Given its distance, that of course means that this star exploded just about 10,000 years ago. That makes Cas A the youngest known supernova remnant in the Milky Way.
Happy New Year from The Universe!
-JF
Image credit: NASA/ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
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