SH2-240 - Christmas Splendour!

Another lovely addition to my 'cosmic Christmas Tree. The Spaghetti Nebula, also known as Simeis 147 and SH2-240 is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the Milky Way straddling the border between the constellations Auriga and Taurus.

This is a very large nebula, about 3 degrees across in apparent diameter (6 full moons across the sky). Some 40,000 years ago, a massive star exploded and left this expanding shell of gas. It is approximately 3,000 light years from Earth.