Veil Nebula
The Veil Nebula Complex, also known as the Cygnus Loop (Sh2-103), is a massive supernova remnant located in the constellation Cygnus, approximately 2,100 light-years from Earth. It is the visible optical portion of a shock wave expanding at roughly 1.5 million kilometers per hour, resulting from the explosion of a star about 20 times the mass of the Sun approximately 8,000 years ago.
Key Characteristics and Structure:
Scale: The complex spans about 3 degrees across the sky (roughly six times the diameter of the full moon) and covers an area of 110 light-years in diameter.
Components: It consists of three main visible sections: the Western Veil (NGC 6960, featuring the "Witch's Broom"), the Eastern Veil (NGC 6992/6995), and Pickering’s Triangle (also called Fleming’s Triangle).
“I choose to capture the Veil Nebula because it’s there. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard. And pretty.”
From my location in Australia’s capital city, Canberra, this is a difficult target to capture. Being a northern hemisphere target, it sits very low on the horizon (climbing no higher than 24º), see below.
This involved me lugging my Vespera up a frosty ladder onto the roof every night, otherwise the house would block the view. I had previously managed to get a little time when I tried this 2 years ago, but this time around I was getting serious. Over a number of weeks and only capturing an hour or so of data each night I slowly built up a mosaic of the entire complex.
It culminated at the end of July with over 8000 images and 24 hours of data.
Veil Nebula Visibility
