Look: Telescope captures the ghostly view of a nearby dying star

Around 11,000 years ago, humans began shifting from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to form the first agricultural societies at the dawn of the Neolithic Period.

Today, the aftermath of the supernova is visible via telescope.

The explosion left behind the Vela supernova remnant, which has been spreading for thousands of years.

Most recently, the European Southern Observatory’s ground-based VLT Survey Telescope captured a stunning portrait of the remnant.

Tendrils of cosmic dust and gas wrap themselves in web-like shapes as bright stars glow in the foreground and background.

And thanks to the relatively young age of the Vela remnant — and its close proximity to Earth — telescopes have a front-row seat to the ever-changing terrain of a star’s explosive end.