Phantom in the Veil Nebula

On the eve of Halloween, NASA tickles nerves to lovers of the "space", offering their imagination to complete the infernal attack.



The frightening forms of this fibrous monster, the Veil Nebula, will remind many of their children's fears. The beautiful diffuse nebula is a supernova remnant and lies about 1400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The time of the explosive death of a massive star is from 5 to 8 thousand years ago. During this time, the nebula swelled to the size, which occupies about 3 degrees in the sky.
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The picture shows the eastern part of the Veil, 0.5 degrees in size, which is comparable with the angular diameter of the moon. Given the distance from the Earth, the size of this part of the nebula is equal to 12 light years. The radiation of hydrogen molecules is depicted in red, and oxygen - in green-blue tones.

Another seasonal gingerbread: in the western part of the Veil is the Witch's Broom Nebula ...



^{Rights to the image 1: Ken Crawford (Rancho Del Sol Observatory); 2: Robert Franke. Based on APOD .}