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                           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.   
      
                                 2024 February 23   
      
                      The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave   
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Helge Buesing   
      
      Explanation: This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space   
      at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Centered and moving upward in the   
      sharply detailed color composite its thin, bright, braided filaments   
      are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost   
      edge-on. Discovered in the 1840s by Sir John Herschel, the   
      narrow-looking nebula is sometimes known as Herschel's Ray. Cataloged   
      as NGC 2736, its pointed appearance suggests its modern popular name,   
      the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 800 light-years away.   
      Nearly 5 light-years long it represents only a small part of the Vela   
      supernova remnant though. The enormous Vela remnant itself is around   
      100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that   
      was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the section of   
      the shock wave seen as the Pencil nebula was moving at millions of   
      kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up   
      surrounding interstellar material.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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