An American astrophotographer has discovered a new nebula in the constellation Virgo. Called the Crown of Thorns Nebula, the discovery was shared on Instagram on May 14, 2025. It drew attention from the public and the scientific community. People responded with surprise and excitement. Comments included “Congratulations, this is spectacular, too mind blowing for my mind to comprehend” and “Phenomenal!!”.
Bray Falls, a professional astrophotographer from Austin, Texas, posted images of the nebula and shared some details. “I’ll start this off by saying this nebula should not be here,” he wrote. He explained that most supernova remnants are found within 10 degrees of the Milky Way band, where the star count is highest. But this one is different. It is located 42 degrees away from that area, in the constellation Virgo.
Falls said he discovered this object through a careful search of areas in the night sky that are often overlooked. The survey he ran to find it took about 90 hours of exposure time and two months in real time. Capturing the final image took 185 hours of exposure time. He also mentioned that editing the data was very challenging.
He added that he and his friend Derek Culver named the nebula. The name perfectly matches its shape. The long pointed strands of gas, dust, and matter stretch from a central structure that looks like a crown of thorns.
This discovery shows that even after years of looking at the sky, there is still much we do not know about space. New objects and patterns appear all the time. Each one helps us learn more about the universe.
