Fireworks in the Sky: Glowing gaseous streamers of red, white, and blue - as well as green and pink - illuminate the heavens like Fourth of July fireworks. The colorful streamers that float across the sky in this photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope were created by the universe's biggest firecracker, the titanic supernova explosion of a massive star. The light from the exploding star reached Earth 320 years ago. The dead star's shredded remains are called Cassiopeia A, or 'Cas A' for short. Cas A is the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy and resides 10, 000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, so the star actually blew up 10, 000 years before the light reached Earth in the late 1600s.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 3 July 2002, 06:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Full Image: Mosaic of WFPC2 Pointings: Glowing gaseous streamers of red, white, and blue - as well as green and pink - illuminate the heavens like Fourth of July fireworks. The colorful streamers that float across the sky in this photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope were created by the universe's biggest firecracker, the titanic supernova explosion of a massive star. The light from the exploding star reached Earth 320 years ago. The dead star's shredded remains are called Cassiopeia A, or 'Cas A' for short. Cas A is the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy and resides 10, 000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, so the star actually blew up 10, 000 years before the light reached Earth in the late 1600s.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 3 July 2002, 06:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Details of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: This is a section of Cassiopeia A, the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy.  These streamer like remains of an exploding star are 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia and were first observed from Earth 320 years ago.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 3 July 2002, 06:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Details of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: This is a section of Cassiopeia A, the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy.  These streamer like remains of an exploding star are 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia and were first observed from Earth 320 years ago.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 3 July 2002, 06:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Details of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: This is a section of Cassiopeia A, the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy.  These streamer like remains of an exploding star are 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia and were first observed from Earth 320 years ago.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SNR 111.7-02.1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 3 July 2002, 06:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)