Cassiopeia A

Cassiopeia A — nebula, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

The youngest known supernova remnant in the galaxy — a star’s insides flung outward at thousands of km/s. The 3D structure here is NASA’s actual reconstruction from X-ray and infrared data.

Type
Supernova remnant
Exploded
Light arrived ~1680
Distance
11,000 light-years
Heart
A neutron star
Shown here
Real NASA 3D reconstruction (Chandra/JWST data)

Seeing Cassiopeia A in real time

Cassiopeia A is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.

Interactive universe A living map of the solar system
Interactive universe
Waking the solar system…