The Eastern Veil Nebula

The Eastern Veil nebula is a portion of the supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus about 1500 ly away. This composite shows the Hydrogen alpha (Ha) and doubly ionized oxygen (OIII) emission and contains NGC6992 and NGC6995 collectively known as the Network nebula. However, to me, it takes a more haunting appearance as this side of the Veil supernova remnant resembles a face in profile with the mouth area prominent in the lower portion.

 

The progenitor supernova exploded an estimated 5000-8000 years ago and the full diameter is 3 degrees, giving a size of around 50 ly. The remnant emits radio, infrared, visible light and is also a very bright source of X-rays. As with the Western Veil nebula, the emission filaments are thought to be the edge-on view of the thin shell of expanding gas. The entire 3 degree field contains this gas, but it's only in this edge-on view that the shell is visible. The supernova must've been quite a site to our ancestors. For reference, it's about 4.3x closer than the supernova that left the Crab nebula remnant, M1, in 1054 AD, which had an apparent magnitude of -6.5 at it's peak. For supernovae with the same intrinsic brightness, this would give a 18x increase in brightness, or around 3.2 magnitudes.

 

Details:

Scope: TMB130SS

Camera: QSI683-wsg8

Guide Camera: Starlight Xpress Ultrastar

Mount: Mach1 GTO

Ha: 6x15min

OIII: 6x15min

3 hrs total exposure

Done