Uncovering the Veil Nebula
This image shows a beautiful portion of the Veil Nebula - the shattered remains of a supernova that exploded some 5-10,000 years ago. The intertwined rope-like filaments of gas result from the enormous amounts of energy released as the fast-moving debris from the explosion ploughs into its surroundings and creates shock fronts.
The image displays two characteristic features: sharp filaments and diffuse emission. These correspond to two different viewing geometries: sharp filaments correspond to an edge-on view of a shock front, and diffuse emission corresponds to a face-on view of it.
This image is a small portion of the Veil located in the western part of the Veil (to the left in the overview image). The entire structure spans about 3 degrees, corresponding to about 6 full moons.
The image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The colour is produced by composite of three different images. The different colours indicate emission from different kinds of atoms excited by the shock: blue shows oxygen, green shows sulphur, and red shows hydrogen.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
About the Image
| Id: | heic0712c |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 31 July 2007, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0712 |
| Size: | 1494 x 753 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Cygnus Loop, NGC 6960, Veil Nebula |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant |
| Distance: | 1500 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical Oiii |
502 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical Sii |
673 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical H-alpha |
656 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
