|Winner of the Astronomy Photographer 2011 Award. This intricate structure is the aftermath of a supernova explosion, the violent death of a star many times more massive than the sun. It took place over 10,000 years ago. Seen against stars and gas in the disc of our Milky Way , this expanding shell of debris and heated gas now covers an area of the sky which is twenty times wider than the disc of the full moon. Camera Pentax 67 DEIF 300mm (12 inch) telescope and FLI Proline 16803 CCD Photographer Marco Lorenzi, Italy