Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

An aging star undergoes a dramatic explosion in the final stage of its life, emitting powerful light, a phenomenon known as a "supernova." This photograph taken at the Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco shows the remnants of two supernovae. The blue soccer ball-shaped nebula in the upper left is approximately 11,000 light-years away and exploded about 50,000 years ago. It is mostly composed of hydrogen gas but exhibits a blue hue due to trace amounts of oxygen. The nebula in the lower right is about 3,000 light-years away and exploded roughly 40,000 years ago. Despite appearing to be different sizes in the photograph, their ages and sizes are actually similar.