APOD: 2026 September 24 – The Ghosts of Five Supernovas

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day showcases an extraordinary image captured at the Oukaïmeden Observatory in Morocco. Spanning an area equivalent to the size of a thousand full moons, it features a portion of the sky located in the constellation Auriga. The image reveals five distinct supernova remnants, each haunting the celestial landscape.

From left to right, the remnants are identified as G181.1+9.5, G182.4+4.3, G179.0+2.6, G180.0−1.7 (also known as the Spaghetti Nebula), and G178.2−4.2. These remnants, highlighted in the annotated version of the image, are accompanied by the open cluster M37 and the Tadpole Nebula.

The explosions responsible for these supernova remnants expanded into space, creating expanding shells of shocked gas and delicate filamentary structures. These structures are depicted in the image in red hues, representing hydrogen, and blue tones, representing oxygen. Each supernova explosion occurred independently, situated at varying distances up to several thousand light-years away from Earth and boasting ages that stretch out to tens of thousands of years.

In ancient times, early humans might have perceived these bright new stars as awe-inspiring phenomena, gradually fading away over the course of weeks or months as their remnants continued to evolve.