"The large-scale homogeneity of the universe makes it very difficult to believe that the structure of the universe is determined by anything so peripheral as some complicated molecular structure on a minor planet orbiting a very average star in the outer suburbs of a fairly typical galaxy."

— Steven Hawking

Supernova remanent in Cygnus

By marzulloj at Mon, 10/12/2009 - 12:13am

Central section of the veil nebula. One hour exposure.
The Veil  is a supernova remanent. It exploded some fifty thousand years ago. The filaments are a shock wave that is expanding in a dusty region, clearing it as it goes. Notice that many faint stars are visible at the bottom where the dust has been cleared than at the top.

Supernova remanent in Cygnus