SNR B0509-67.5

I was browsing through images from the Hubble Space Telescope today and came across this beauty.   Known as SNR 0509, the giant red gas bubble shown in the image above is the remnant of a violent supernova explosion.  It was found in the Large Magellanic Cloud which is a small galaxy that lies about 160,000 light years away from Earth.

As I looked through the Hubble images, I was struck by seeming endless variety of objects that exist in our universe.  This one is a great example.  Despite the fact that it was formed as a result of the most violent explosion know to man, this giant red gas bubble has a very delicate structure.  Notice the ripples on the upper left side of the bubble.  Scientists are unsure what caused them.  It could be variations in the density of the matter surrounding the bubble or it may have been caused as a result of the original explosion.

Now this isn’t just your average giant red gas bubble in space.  It’s a super-sized, rapidly expanding gas bubble.  It measures over 23 light years across and is expanding at over 18 million km/hr.

Hubble spotted this fantastic object in October of 2006.

IMAGE CREDIT:  NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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