Supernovae occur when a massive star ends its life in an amazing blaze of glory. A supernova occurs when a high-mass star reaches the end of its life. When nuclear fusion ceases in the core of the star, the star collapses inward on itself. The gas falling inward either rebounds or gets so strongly heated that it expands outwards from the core, thus causing the star to explode. The expanding shell of gas forms a supernova remnant, a special type of diffuse nebula.
A typical supernova remnant is at most a few light-years across. One of the best examples of a supernova remnant is the Crab Nebula (M1) in Taurus. It is illuminated by a pulsar which was created by the supernova. For a few days a supernova emits as much energy as a whole galaxy. When it's all over, a large fraction of the star is blown into space as a supernova remnant.
The Crab Nebula (M1)
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