Cygnus Loop Compass Image

Cygnus Loop Compass Image

Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to zoom in for a close-up look at one sliver of the Cygnus Loop nebula—a huge bubble of glowing gasses. They found gossamer filaments resembling lines in a wrinkled bedsheet stretched across two light-years. This region lies at the outer edge of the expanding bubble, and was produced by an exploding star 20,000 years ago.

Analyzing the shock wave's location, astronomers found that the filaments haven't slowed down at all in the last 20 years of Hubble observations, and they haven't changed shape. The material is speeding into interstellar space at over half a million miles per hour—fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in less than half an hour.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, STScI

About The Object
Object Name Cygnus Loop
Object Description Supernova Remnant
R.A. Position 20:56:04.18
Dec. Position 31:56:25.90
Constellation Cygnus
Distance 2500 light-years
Dimensions Image is about 2.4 arcmin across (about 1.74 light-years)
About The Data
Data Description The HST observations include those from program: 15893 (R. Sankrit) 
Instrument WFC3/UVIS
Exposure Dates July 1, 2020
Filters F502N, F656N
About The Image
Color Info These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the The Hubble Space Telescope using the WFC3/UVIS instrument. Two filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: F502N, Orange: F656N
Compass Image Image titled "Cygnus Loop HST WFC3/UVIS" with compass arrows, color key and scale bar. A horizontal, undulating linear structure resembling overlapping strings of yarn extends edge-to-edge across the frame, but takes up only a quarter of the width at its widest point. Mostly orange with some blue, these are filaments of glowing gasses, which resemble lines in a wrinkled bedsheet. At left, near the top of the image is a color key showing the Hubble instrument filters used to create the image. The assigned filter colors are blue: F502N and orange: F656N. At lower left is a scale bar labeled "0.5 light-years." At lower right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points in the 10 o'clock direction. The north arrow points towards 2 o'clock.
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.

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