Sharpless 2-240 / Simeis 147 / Spaghetti Nebula

Known by several names: Simeis 147, Sharpless 2-240 or the 'Spaghetti Nebula,' this dim but large object is the remnant of a supernova lying between the constellations Auriga and Taurus. The nebula is a filamentary spherical shell of gas that is the remains of a star believed to have exploded some 40,000 years ago. The nebula spans a large swath of sky aproximately 3 degrees across (~ 6x the width of the full moon!), and was captured in this image using a Hydrogen-alpha filter and a four-pane mosaic. This is the second 'sub-mosaic' intended to be part of a larger mosaic across a swath of the constellation Auriga, which is presented in the following image.