The complete Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus! This is a...
The complete Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus! This is a two-image mosaic that covers an area of sky about 3° across, an area into which you can fit 36 full moons. The Western Veil on the right is the “Witch’s Broom” (NGC 6960) and various other bands of ionized gas and dust. Pickering’s Triangle is that brighter wedge-shaped mass of hydrogen and oxygen at the middle top, and the Eastern Veil (NGC 6992, NGC 6995, IC 1340) is the large crescent on the left. The latest estimates put the nebula about 1,470 lightyears away from us. So, relatively close, and if you were around 6,530 years ago–and watching the night sky–you might have seen the massive supernova that created this beautiful nebula. (The supernova kicked off around 8,000 years ago, but the light and violence of the star’s ending would have taken almost 1,500 years to reach us). https://SaltwaterWitch.com
I shot this with a William Optics GT81 APO refractor, on an iOptron CEM25P mount, with Astronomik narrowband filters, and a ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro monochrome camera.
