Cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus
Veil Nebula
Diffuse nebula
supernova remnant
Western Veil nebula
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension
20h 45m 38.0s[1]
Declination
+30° 42′ 30″[1]
Distance
2400[2] ly
Apparent magnitude (V)
7.0
Apparent dimensions (V)
3 degrees (diameter)
Constellation
Cygnus
Physical characteristics
Radius
50-65[citation needed] ly
Designations
NGC 6960,[1] 6992,[1] 6995,[1] 6974, and 6979, IC 1340, Cygnus Loop, Cirrus Nebula,[1] Filamentary Nebula,[1] Witch's Broom Nebula (NGC 6960),[3] Caldwell 33/34
See also: Lists of nebulae
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.[4]
It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop,[5] a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The source supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the Sun which exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.[2] At the time of the explosion, the supernova would have appeared brighter than Venus in the sky, and visible in the daytime.[6] The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, and 36 times the area, of the full Moon).[4] While previous distance estimates have ranged from 1200 to 5800 light-years, a recent determination of 2400 light-years is based on direct astrometric measurements.[2] (The distance estimates affect also the estimates of size and age.)
The Hubble Space Telescope captured several images of the nebula. The analysis of the emissions from the nebula indicates the presence of oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen.[7] The Cygnus Loop is also a strong emitter of radio waves and x-rays.[8]
^ abcdefg"NGC 6960". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
^ abc
Fesen, Robert A.; Weil, Kathryn E.; Cisneros, Ignacio A.; Blair, William P.; Raymond, John C. (2018). "The Cygnus Loop's distance, properties, and environment-driven morphology". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 481 (2): 1786–1798. arXiv:1809.01713. Bibcode:2018MNRAS.481.1786F. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2370. S2CID 119000958.
^
Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (1 January 2007). "NGC 6960: The Witch's Broom Nebula". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
^ ab
Loff, Sarah (24 September 2015). "Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant". NASA. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
^
Burnham, Robert (1978). Burnham's Celestial Handbook. New York: Dover. p. 800–811. ISBN 978-0-486-23568-4.
^
King, Bob (5 September 2018). "Explore the Veil Nebula". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
^
"Pickering's Triangle in the Veil". NASA. Astronomy Picture of the Day. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
^Cite error: The named reference BritannicaCygnus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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