Spaghetti Nebula – Echoes of a Stellar Death in a Beautiful Web of Intricate Filaments of H-alpha and OIII emission Revealed in Simeis 147
Alqueva´s Dark Sky Reserve | By Year: 2026 | Deep Sky Wide Field
This deep-sky wide-field mosaic of two panels, captured through a dua-band H-alpha-OIII filter, and RGB light, unveils the hauntingly beautiful structure of Simeis 147 (Sharpless 2-240). Popularly known as the Spaghetti Nebula, this massive supernova remnant straddles the boundary between the constellations Taurus and Auriga, approximately 3,000 light-years from Earth. Spanning over 3 degrees—roughly six times the width of the full moon—the nebula reveals a violent history through its delicate morphology. While the dominant reddish hues trace the glow of ionized hydrogen (Ha), the image highlights a significant presence of doubly ionized oxygen (OIII). These teal-colored emissions often trace the strongest shock fronts where the expanding blast wave slams into the interstellar medium, creating a complex, multi-dimensional web of gas. From edge to edge, this debris cloud stretches across 150 light-years of space. The cataclysmic stellar explosion that birthed this structure is estimated to have occurred 40,000 years ago. It left behind not only these ethereal filaments but also a high-velocity pulsar (PSR J0538+2817)—a rapidly spinning neutron star kicked away from the explosion’s center, serving as a silent, dense heart to this expansive graveyard of gas. The image was captured from Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory, Cumeada, in Portugal.
PT: Este mosaico de céu profundo wide-field composto por dois painéis, captado através de uma combinação de filtros dual-band H-alpha-OIII e luz RGB, revela a estrutura assustadoramente bela de Simeis 147 (Sharpless 2-240). Popularmente conhecida como Spaghetti Nebula, este massivo remanescente de supernova estende-se pela fronteira entre as constelações de Touro e Cocheiro, a aproximadamente 3.000 anos-luz da Terra. Abrangendo mais de 3 graus — cerca de seis vezes a largura da Lua cheia — a nebulosa revela uma história violenta através da sua morfologia delicada. Enquanto os tons avermelhados predominantes traçam o brilho do hidrogénio ionizado (Ha), esta composição específica destaca uma presença significativa de oxigénio duplamente ionizado (OIII). Estas emissões de cor turquesa/cian geralmente delineiam as frentes de choque mais fortes, onde a onda de impacto da explosão colide com o meio interestelar, criando uma rede complexa e multidimensional de gás. De uma extremidade à outra, esta nuvem de detritos estende-se por 150 anos-luz de distância. A explosão estelar cataclísmica que deu origem a esta estrutura terá ocorrido há 40.000 anos, deixando para trás não apenas estes filamentos etéreos, mas também um pulsar de alta velocidade (PSR J0538+2817) — uma estrela de neutrões em rotação rápida que foi “projetada” para fora do centro da explosão, servindo como o coração denso e silencioso deste vasto cemitério de gás. A imagem foi captada a partir do Observatório Oficial do Dark Sky® Alqueva, na Cumeada, Portugal.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
Omegon 76ED Apo triplet on a EQ6-Pro auto-guided in N.I.N.A | Poseidon-C Pro Camera from Player One Astronomy | Sub Exp. 5 min with Anit-Halo PRO Dual-Band Filter 2″ (Ha+OIII) 3nm from Player One Astronomy| Total integration of 56h (26h per panel (x2) in Ha 7nm + 2h per panel (x2) in RGB). Processing on PixInsight 1.8.9-3, photoshop CC 2026. Cumeada Observatory from Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Reguengos de Monsaraz.
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