SNR E0102, WFPC2 Image
SNR E0102, is the greenish-blue shell of debris just below the center of NASA's HST image. Its name is derived from its cataloged placement (or coordinates) in the celestial sphere. More formally known as , it is located almost 50 light-years away from the edge of the massive star-forming region, N 76, also known as Henize 1956 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This delicate structure, glowing a multitude of lavenders and peach hues, resides in the upper right of the image. Determined to be only about 2,000 years old, E0102 is relatively young on astronomical scales and is just beginning its interactions with the nearby interstellar medium. Young supernova remnants like E0102 allow astronomers to examine material from the cores of massive stars directly. This in turn gives insight on how stars form, their composition, and the chemical enrichment of the surrounding area. Four filters that isolate light from blue, visible, and infrared wavelengths and hydrogen emission were combined with oxygen emission images of the SNR taken with the WFPC2 in 1995.
Size: 3609px × 2891px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: astronomy, cloud, e0102, hst, hubble, image, magellanic, remnant, small, smc, snr, space, supernova, telescope, wfpc2
