NGC 6960 - Veil Nebula (Western Segment)

In the constellation Cygnus (The Swan) an unknown supergiant star exploded some 15,000 years ago and briefly appeared as a spectacular Type II supernova. The remnant of that ancient blast is now visible as a very large circle of nebulosity known as the Cygnus Loop. More popularly known as the Veil Nebula (aka Filamentary Nebula, Bridal Veil Nebula, or Network Nebula), this circle of star material spans some 3 degrees or six full-Moon-diameters of the night sky. The segment on the western side of the loop is cataloged as NGC 6960 or Caldwell 33 and is the subject of my recent image shown below:

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This portion of the Veil Nebula is also known as "The Witches Broom" and is dominated by the bright, magnitude 4.2 foreground star known as 52 Cygni. NGC 6960 runs in a roughly north-south line slightly east of 52 Cygni. A cropped, full resolution image of this western segment of the Veil is shown below:

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Note 1: East is toward top and North is toward right side for all images. Complete image details are available by clicking here.

Note 2: [Source: O'Meara, Stephen James. "The Caldwell Objects". Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Sky Publishing, 2002. Print.]

Spectacular Pleiades

On fall and winter evenings, the northern sky's most spectacular open cluster rides high in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The 70-million-year-old cluster contains some 100 stars in an area 14 light years in diameter with ten stars brighter than 6th magnitude. Photographs show the entire area surrounded by ice-blue nebulosity that reflects the light of the hot, young stars. Debate continues whether the nebulosity is associated with the stars or whether the cluster is just moving through an area of nebulosity. Either way, the cluster/nebulosity combination makes for a magnificent wide-field photograph. Here is a reduced version of the Pleiades:

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A map of the Pleiades rotated to match all images is shown below:

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The brightest area of nebulosity surrounds the star Merope (23 Taurii) and is known as the Merope Nebula (IC349). Just to the south of Merope (left) is another area of nebulosity cataloged as NGC 1435 and also known as Tempel's Nebula. A close-up image of the area around Merope is shown below:

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Another bright area of nebulosity surrounds the Maia (20 Taurii) and is known as the Maia Nebula (NGC 1432). A close-up image of the area around Maia is shown below:

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Note 1: East is toward top and North is toward right side for all images. Complete image details are available by clicking here.

Note 2: [Source: O'Meara, Stephen James. "The Messier Objects". Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Sky Publishing, 1998. Print.]