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NGC 6960 - The Witch's Broom Nebula (a.k.a. the Western Veil Nebula)
About 10,000 years ago, a bright new star appeared in the stellar firmament on a place that we now consider part of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan). It shined brilliantly for a few weeks before becoming so dim again to be invisible to human vision. Astronomers have calculated its position and age by studying the light reaching us from an extended filamentary cloud of interstellar gas known as the Veil Nebula. It is catalogued as entry 6960 in the New General Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects and classified as a supernova remnant, the expanding debris from the exploded star, plowing through interstellar matter and exciting hydrogen (red color) and oxygen atoms (blue - green) to make them glow. The distance to this object is not accurately measured but is about 1,500 light years away.
The Veil nebula is an extended object and consists of different parts, each catalogued with a different name. This image was shot with a small refractor telescope and a DSLR camera and depicts the Western part of the nebulosity, which is often referred to as the Witch's Broom nebula, the Filamentary nebula or the Lace-Work nebula.
The bright star at center is 52 Cygni, which is unrelated to the nebula itself since it is located much closer to the Earth, at about 200 light years. It is therefore a foreground star, just as all the other visible stars of our Milky Way Galaxy. The spikes by the way are an artifact, usually produced by images of reflector telescopes, but in this case digitally added with computer software for aesthetic reasons.
Thanks to everyone for viewing - clear skies!
Telescope: Orion EON ED 80/500 refractor
Mount: Modified Vixen Sphinx
Camera: Canon EOS 20Da
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Guiding: Skywatcher 80/400 refractor, Skywatcher Synguider
Light frames: 10 x 6 mins (total: 1 hour), ISO 1600, Custom WB, calibrated with darks
Date & Location: 9/5/2019 - Chalkidiki, Greece
Processing: DSS 4.2.3, Adobe Photoshop 2020 with Astronomy Tools Actions Set (spikes added to the brightest stars).
NGC 6960 - The Witch's Broom Nebula (a.k.a. the Western Veil Nebula)
About 10,000 years ago, a bright new star appeared in the stellar firmament on a place that we now consider part of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan). It shined brilliantly for a few weeks before becoming so dim again to be invisible to human vision. Astronomers have calculated its position and age by studying the light reaching us from an extended filamentary cloud of interstellar gas known as the Veil Nebula. It is catalogued as entry 6960 in the New General Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects and classified as a supernova remnant, the expanding debris from the exploded star, plowing through interstellar matter and exciting hydrogen (red color) and oxygen atoms (blue - green) to make them glow. The distance to this object is not accurately measured but is about 1,500 light years away.
The Veil nebula is an extended object and consists of different parts, each catalogued with a different name. This image was shot with a small refractor telescope and a DSLR camera and depicts the Western part of the nebulosity, which is often referred to as the Witch's Broom nebula, the Filamentary nebula or the Lace-Work nebula.
The bright star at center is 52 Cygni, which is unrelated to the nebula itself since it is located much closer to the Earth, at about 200 light years. It is therefore a foreground star, just as all the other visible stars of our Milky Way Galaxy. The spikes by the way are an artifact, usually produced by images of reflector telescopes, but in this case digitally added with computer software for aesthetic reasons.
Thanks to everyone for viewing - clear skies!
Telescope: Orion EON ED 80/500 refractor
Mount: Modified Vixen Sphinx
Camera: Canon EOS 20Da
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Guiding: Skywatcher 80/400 refractor, Skywatcher Synguider
Light frames: 10 x 6 mins (total: 1 hour), ISO 1600, Custom WB, calibrated with darks
Date & Location: 9/5/2019 - Chalkidiki, Greece
Processing: DSS 4.2.3, Adobe Photoshop 2020 with Astronomy Tools Actions Set (spikes added to the brightest stars).