Supernova Seen In Two Lights: The destructive results of a mighty supernova explosion reveal themselves in a delicate blend of infrared and X-ray light, as seen in this image from our Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton.
The bubbly cloud is an irregular shock wave, generated by a supernova that would have been witnessed on Earth 3,700 years ago. The remnant itself, called Puppis A, is around 7,000 light-years away, and the shock wave is about 10 light-years across.
The pastel hues in this image reveal that the infrared and X-ray structures trace each other closely.
Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/IAFE
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