The Ghost of Cassiopeia (Cas A)

The aftermath of a cosmic detonation. Cassiopeia A is the youngest known remnant of a massive star that exploded in our galaxy (the light reached Earth ~340 years ago). This image is forensic evidence of a cataclysm.

The bright pink and orange filaments are 'shards of glass'—knots of oxygen, sulfur, argon, and neon flung out by the explosion. These are the elements that build planets and lifeforms, forged in the heart of the dying star. The wispy, smoke-like grey curtains are synchrotron radiation, caused by charged particles spiraling at nearly the speed of light around magnetic field lines. It is a portrait of violence frozen in time, glittering like a shattered jewel. Ideally placed in an industrial loft or a space featuring raw materials (concrete, steel).

Scientific provenance

Editions

• Fine Art — museum-grade pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Metallic. Numbered edition of 50 per size, with a Numbered Certificate of Authenticity.
• Poster — pigment print on archival photo paper. Open edition.
• Framed or unframed — either edition can be framed in a slim black frame with shatter-resistant acrylic glazing, ready to hang (50 × 50 and 50 × 70 cm). Framed works ship free within the EU; unframed prints ship rolled in a protective tube.

Printed to order in our Vilnius studio on an Epson SureColor P20500 with UltraChrome PRO12 pigment inks, and dispatched within 5–7 business days. Each size is composed for its own proportions: we crop, we never stretch, and we never add or generate image content.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University of Gent). Licensed under CC BY 4.0; cropped and colour-managed for print. UniverseMuseum is an independent studio and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI or the Rubin Observatory.