This image shows a small portion of the Veil Nebula - the shattered remains of a supernova that exploded some 5-10,000 years ago. The intertwined rope-like filaments of gas result from the enormous amounts of energy released as the fast-moving debris from the explosion ploughs into its surroundings and creates shock fronts. These shocks, driven by debris moving at 600,000 kilometers per hour, heat the gas to millions of degrees. It is the subsequent cooling of this material that produces the brilliantly colored glows.

The entire structure spans about 3 degrees, corresponding to about 6 full moons. The bright blue star – dubbed 52 Cygni and unrelated to the supernova explosion – can be observed with the naked eye on a clear summer’s night.

The image was taken with Narrow Band filters. The color is produced by composite of three different images. The different colors indicate emission from different kinds of atoms excited by the shock: blue shows oxygen, green shows sulfur, and red shows hydrogen.

Credit for the above narrative: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration.