images

The Veil nebula, IC 1340

by

P.Mortfield/S.Cancelli/Novapix

Reference

a-snv11-00052

Date

2009-09-27

This image shows a faint portion of the eastern veil nebula in Cygnus, a large, almost spherical glowing shell of gas, the expanding remains of a star that exploded between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago. The nebula (and thus its precursor star) is about 1900 light years distant and about 100 light years across. It is the result of the shockwave from the explosion exciting the tenuous interstellar medium and making it glow. Shooting in these wavelengths and with the color combine choices yielded a spooky view of something resembling a Bat or Owl. Red is Hydrogen, Blue is Oxygen, Green is the product of both.