The VY CMa Nebula is the dusty debris around VY Canis Majoris, a red hypergiant shedding its outer layers in arcs, knots and clumps as it nears its end.
At a glance
| type | nebula |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 3,910 light-years (1.2 kpc) |
| its light left it | 3,910 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 0.46 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About VY CMa Nebula
VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant, among the largest and most luminous cool stars known. It is losing mass at an enormous rate, and the material forms a complex nebula of dust and gas around it. Hubble images show arcs, loops, filaments and knots, the marks of separate outbursts thrown off in different directions rather than a smooth steady wind.
The nebula is seen mostly by the starlight its dust reflects. It is also rich in molecules, and radio telescopes detect strong masers in it, which trace the motions of the gas. The star is likely to end its life soon in astronomical terms, either exploding as a supernova or collapsing directly, and its nebula shows how such giants lose so much of their mass beforehand.
What you see in the piece
In the piece it is a small dusty cloud lit by reflected starlight around VY Canis Majoris, in the direction of Canis Major; it parts from the star only when you fly close.
Measured or modelled
The star’s fate, a supernova or a direct collapse to a black hole, is uncertain.
Questions
What is the nebula around VY Canis Majoris?
It is dust and gas the red hypergiant has expelled in a series of outbursts, seen as arcs and knots that reflect the star’s light.
How far away is VY Canis Majoris?
VY Canis Majoris and its nebula are 3,910 light-years (1.2 kpc) from the Sun.