                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 November 29
    The featured image shows a grand skyscape with a brown desert road in
       the foreground and a sky containing the Milky Way galactic band
      complete with a large red glow on the right which is the dim Gum
   Nebula. The LMC galaxy is also visible. Please see the explanation for
                         more detailed information.

                      The Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Lima

   Explanation: Because the Gum Nebula is the closest supernova remnant,
   it is actually hard to see. Spanning 40 degrees across the sky, the
   nebula appears so large and faint that it is easily lost in the din of
   a bright and complex background. The Gum Nebula is highlighted nicely
   in red emission toward the right of the featured wide-angle,
   single-image photograph taken in late May. Also visible in the frame
   are the Atacama Desert in Chile in the foreground, the Carina Nebula in
   the plane of our Milky Way galaxy running diagonally down from the
   upper left, and the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy.
   The Gum Nebula is so close that we are much nearer the front edge than
   the back edge, each measuring 450 and 1500 light years respectively.
   The complicated nebula lies in the direction of the constellations of
   Puppis and Vela. Oddly, much remains unknown about the Gum Nebula,
   including the timing and even number of supernova explosions that
   formed it.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

