The Veil Nebula is a large supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus. The supernova which created the nebula occurred more than 30.000 years ago, about 1.600 light years away towards the Cygnus arm of our galaxy. The remnant takes the form of a large 3 degrees wide loop in the sky, only the western part is imaged here. It main part is framed by the 4th magnitude star 52 Cygnii, the brightest part there was designated the number 6960 in the New General Catalogue. It features a filamentary structure which is visible in big telescopes and on this photograph. Europeans sometimes call it "Firebird" as it resembles a wide-winged bird seen from the front with the bright star being the body. The other parts of the Veil nebula seen in this photograph include the "Triangle" NGC 6974 (near the top) and some fainter filaments designated NGC 6979.
The Digital Camera used for this photograph has a high sensitivity at the green-blue [OIII] and H beta emission lines, but low sensitivity in H alpha, thus turquois is the dominating color of the supernova remnant in this photograph. It is interesting to compare it to the H alpha-sensitive film photo linked below:
Western Part of the Veil Nebula, Wright-Newtonian photograph.
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