A supernova event marks the catastrophic end-point in the life of a massive star. The self-destruction of the star releases a huge amount of energy as radiation of all kinds, but a substantial fraction of the force of the explosion blasts the outer part of the supernova into an expanding shell of matter that travels through the almost empty space between the stars. As the rapidly moving blast wave encounters the relatively stationary interstellar medium it creates a very narrow, luminous shock front that appears as a faint nebula. Because the narrow, luminous shock front is very convoluted the nebulosity appears to be highly structured as it is viewed through slightly different thicknesses. The negative image reveals the faintest detail.

Though the star responsible for the Vela supernova remnant exploded 12,000 years ago, it is still affecting its environment. The other supernova remnant associated with this explosion is a neutron star, the Vela pulsar, PSR J0835–4510, rotating 11 times a second. It is not in this red-light image, and in any case would be too faint to be seen here.