Around 11,800 years ago a star exploded in Vela. It must have been quite an explosion and the light would have reached earth around 11,000 years ago.
The Vela Supernova Remnant spans the equivalent of 16 times the diameter of the Moon but is very faint and requires considerable exposure time on a suitable telescope to resolve it.
The Remnant consists of gas and dust. Much of the gas is hydrogen and Oxygen, some of which has formed filamentary structures. The gas and dust has continued to expand outwards creating what we see today.
It is thought that within the Vela Supernova Remnant there are the remains of an earlier supernova.
Imaged in Ha and OIII as a six panel Mosaic on our RH 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Integration Time: 87 hours
Image Acquisition: Mike Selby and Gowri Visweswaran
Image Processing: Mike Selby