7/8/2002: Hubble fireworks

Hubble's newest image, released on 7/3 on HubbleSite, is described as the universe's biggest firecracker. That's a bit of a stretch but it is a very colorful thing.

It's actually the end of a star's life - a supernova. The EXPLOSION of a star. This one is in the constellation Cassiopeia, which is 10,000 light years away. Light from the event was first seen 320 years ago, so this star's explosion happened 10,320 years ago. Give or take a few hundred years...

As usual, the image is far more striking if you get a copy of it that takes up your whole monitor. If you've got the time or bandwidth, visit the page with the high-res and larger images, and pick up one of the full image.

Meanwhile, here's a section of the shot in greater detail. Sorry for how large these two images are, bit-wise, but you need as big a shot as possible to get the impact.