ExploraTour: A Peek into the Lives of the Stars
Oxygen-Rich Supernova Remnant N132D.
N132D is the scattered remains of a star that exploded some 3,000 years ago (about the time the ancient Egyptians were living on Earth) in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The star responsible for this ejected material originally had a mass 25 times greater than the sun. The clouds of material were expelled from the exploding star at speeds exceeding 4 million miles per hour.
This image is particularly exciting because the blue-green filaments identify regions of oxygen-rich gas. In this case, we can see the interstellar medium becoming enriched in the heavy elements that were synthesized in the original star and its blast wave.
The reddish filaments are regions of interstellar gas and dust that have been compressed and heated by the expanding gas ejected during the supernova blast.