“The Veil Nebula is the cosmic shrapnel left over from a star that exploded several thousand years ago. It lies within our own galaxy, about 2,000 light-years away and is 110 light-years across, covering an area of sky that’s six times bigger than that covered by the full moon.

Only the most massive stars end their lives as a supernova, but these explosions are responsible for creating all naturally occurring chemical elements heavier than iron. Many elements, such as copper, mercury, gold, iodine, and lead, were forged in these violent events. The expanding shells of supernova remnants mix with other materials in the galaxy and become the raw materials for new generations of stars and planets.” - NASA