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| C33, The Western Veil Nebula, Image above cropped and downsized from original. North is to the left. |
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Sometimes called the Bridal Veil Nebula, sometimes the
broomstick, and sometimes the Cirrus Nebula. I see it as
Harry Potter's Nimbus 5000. My wife sees it as a salamander with a peacock's
tail. In fact it is the western side of the huge 3 deg wide Veil nebula
(click here). This nebula tells the tale of a supernova explosion
that occurred about 10,000 years ago not too far away from us. 1500 light
years is close enough to have been bright enough to have been easily seen in
broad daylight for at least a couple of weeks. It would have been brighter
than the moon at night. You wonder what they must have thought it was? Maybe
another sun being born? The blue and green colors are mostly oxygen molecules set aglow by the star's shock wave crashing into other interstellar gasses. The reds are hydrogen and sulfur from both the star and the interstellar medium, both being compressed and then glowing red hot. Click here for a view of the Western side of the Veil Nebula. You see it high in the sky on the eastern side of the summer time Milky Way. |
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4" refractor
at f5.3, with modified Canon 40D DSLR camera at Prime Focus |