Vela Super Nova Remnant: This is the central part of a very extended nebula in a distance of about 1300 LY in the southern constellation of Vela. It was created approx. 11000 years ago, when a giant star blew into pieces in a gigantic super nova explosion relatively near to our solar system. It is embedded in the Gum Nebula and resembles  another well known super nova remnant, the Veil Nebula.Like there the shock fronts of the explosion excite intergallactic gas to emit radiation.

The image is made up of deep exposures with a narrow band filter for the hydrogen Ha  emission line. For a color image see here. To have a closer look at the wonderful fine filament structure have a look at the hi-resolution version.