The Cygnus Veil

Image Details:

The Veil Nebula is a supernova remnant (the shredded remnants of a star which exploded) located in a corner of the constellation Cygnus 2,400 light years from here and is best placed for photography in mid-Summer. In total this complex covers over 6 times the apparent width of the Full Moon in our sky and is estimated to be somewhere between 10-20,000 years old, 165 light years in diameter, and is expanding outwards at 50 kilometers per second. This nebula is visible as several distinct sections including the East Veil to the right, West Veil to the left, Pickering’s Triangle near the bottom, and other diffuse filaments of energized matter throughout. Shot as a 2-panel mosaic.

2022 Reprocess: I formed more color combinations with the data and newer software tools (plus more experience) allowed me to isolate a lot more of the dimmer structures in this nebula.

Equipment:

• William Optics Star71-II Petzval APO (345mm Focal Length, F/4.9)

• ZWO ASI1600MM-P, ZWO Filters

• Celestron CGEM-II

• Autoguiding: Orion 50mm Guidescope + ZWO ASI224MC

Exposures:

• Red, Green, Blue: 119, 119, 119 x 120” (Total: 11h 54m)

• Hydrogen-Alpha 7nm: 291 x 300” (Total: 24h 15m)

• Oxygen-III 7nm: 1x1” (Total: 19h 05m)

Misc Details:

• Capture Software: AstrophotographyTool, PHD2 (guiding), Celestron CPWI (mount control), Pegasus Powerbox (dew heater control, power management)

• Processing Software: PixInsight

• Taken from: Wichita, KS, Bortle 4

• Capture Dates: 21, 24, 27-28, 30 June, 22-23 July, 27-28 August, 16, 19, 21, 28, 30 October, 2019

Annotation