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Pencil thick

Vikas Chander from New Delhi, India; taken via Obstech

The Pencil Nebula (NGC 2736) is part of the Vela supernova remnant’s shock wave, which gives it a thin visual appearance. This deep image, however, reveals the trails of material left in the wake (at left) of the shock wave (center). The imager took 20⅔ hours of exposure for this Hα/OIII/RGB image with a 24-inch scope.