The Cygnus Loop, also known as the Veil Nebula, is a supernova remnant – the remains of the explosive death of a massive star. Studying images like these leads to discovery, but NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provides another way to experience this data: three-dimensional (3D) models that allow people to explore – and print – examples of stars in the early and end stages of their lives.
The 3D model of the Cygnus Loop is the result of a simulation describing the interaction of a blast wave from the explosion with an isolated cloud of the interstellar medium (that is, dust and gas in between the stars). Chandra sees the blast wave and other material that has been heated to millions of degrees. These 3D models are based on state-of-the-art theoretical models, computational algorithms, and observations from space-based telescopes like Chandra that give us accurate pictures of these cosmic objects and how they evolve over time.
See more 3D printable models of cosmic objects.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/SAO/CXC; Optical: John Stone (Astrobin); Image Processing: NASA/SAO/CXC/L. Frattre, N. Wolk
天鹅座环（Cygnus Loop），又被称为面纱星云（Veil Nebula），是一颗大质量恒星剧烈爆炸后留下的超新星遗迹。研究这样的图像有助于科学探索，但美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的钱德拉X射线天文台（Chandra X-ray Observatory）还提供了另一种体验这些数据的方式——通过三维（3D）模型，让人们能够直观探索甚至打印这些处于恒星生命早期与末期阶段的天体实例。
天鹅座环的三维模型基于一项模拟研究，描述了超新星爆炸产生的冲击波与星际介质（即恒星间的尘埃与气体）中孤立云团相互作用的过程。钱德拉天文台能够观测到这一冲击波及其他被加热至数百万摄氏度的物质。这些三维模型依托于最先进的理论模型、计算算法以及包括钱德拉在内的空间望远镜观测数据，帮助我们获得了关于这些宇宙天体及其演化过程的精确图像。
图片来源: X射线：NASA/SAO/CXC；光学图像: John Stone (Astrobin)；图像处理: NASA/SAO/CXC/L. Frattare, N. Wolk
