Snapshots of the Universe Spitzer Space Telescope and Galaxy Evolution Explorer   1 2 3 4 5 6 7     Death Becomes Her Knowing how stars die is just as important as knowing how they form and develop. This image shows the remnant of a once massive star that died in a violent supernova explosion more than 300 years ago. This false-color view of Cassiopeia A shows the dead star and a surrounding shell of material that was blasted off as the star died. Images from Spitzer, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory were combined to create this view. + Full image and caption     Jet Propulsion Laboratory    California Institute of Technology