[Left] – This is a sky survey image of the Veil Nebula, a 110-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star that exploded about 8,000 years ago in the constellation Cygnus.
[Center] – This is a ground-based telescope image of a 15-light-year-long stretch of the eastern portion of the nebula.
[Right] – This image shows a two-light-year-wide segment of the remnant as photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble resolves tangled rope-like filaments of glowing gases.
Credits
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Digitized Sky Survey ((DSS) STScI/AURA, Palomar/Caltech, and UKSTU/AAO), and T.A. Rector (University of Alaska, Anchorage) and WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Veil Nebula, NGC 6960, Cygnus Loop |
| Object Description | Supernova Remnant |
| R.A. Position | 20h 45m 0.0s |
| Dec. Position | 30° 57' 59.99" |
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Distance | 2,100 light-years (640 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble image of the Veil Nebula was created from Hubble data from proposals : Hubble Heritage Team, PI: Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, J. Mack, S. Meyett, L. Frattare, C. Christian, J. Green, and M. Livio (STScI/AURA), and K. Noll (NASA/GSFC). |
| Instrument | Dss (left), NOAO (center), and HST>WFC3/UVIS (right) |
| Exposure Dates | April 14 - 17, 2015 (HST) |
| Filters | Hubble image (right): F502N ([O III]), F657N (H-alpha+[N II]), F673N ([S II]), F555W (V), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | The Hubble image (right) is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F502N ([O III]) Red: F657N (H-alpha+[N II]) Green: F673N ([S II]) Blue: F555W (V) Red: F814W (I) |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
