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Cygnus Loop and Location of Veil Nebula
[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.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.20h 45m 0.0s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.30° 57' 59.99"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Cygnus
- DistanceDistanceThe 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.2,100 light-years (640 parsecs)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The Hubble image of the Veil Nebula was created from Hubble data from proposals 14056: 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). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.Dss (left), NOAO (center), and HST>WFC3/UVIS (right)
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.April 14 - 17, 2015 (HST)
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.Hubble image (right): F502N ([O III]), F657N (H-alpha+[N II]), F673N ([S II]), F555W (V), and F814W (I)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Veil Nebula, NGC 6960, Cygnus Loop
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Supernova Remnant
- Release DateSeptember 24, 2015
- Science ReleaseHubble Zooms in on Shrapnel from an Exploded Star
- Credits
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)
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
