Astro Gallery, Nebulae, NGC6960 Western Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus of which the Western Veil Nebula is part. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a large but relatively faint supernova remnant. The source supernova exploded some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area roughly 3 degrees in diameter. The distance to the nebula is not precisely known, but data suggests a distance of about 1,470 light-years. The top filament strands, just below the star 52Cyg, is more commonly known as the Witches Broom nebula, and Pickering's Triangle is on the lower strands to the left.