by APOD Robot » Wed Oct 18, 2023 4:07 am
Dust and the Western Veil Nebula
Explanation: It's so big it is easy to miss. The
entire Veil Nebula spans six times the diameter of the
full moon, but is so dim you need
binoculars to see it. The nebula was created about
15,000 years ago when a star in the
constellation of the Swan (
Cygnus) exploded. The
spectacular explosion would have
appeared brighter than even
Venus for a week - but there is
no known record of it. Pictured is the western edge of the still-expanding gas cloud. Notable gas filaments include the
Witch's Broom Nebula on the upper left near the bright foreground star
52 Cygni, and
Fleming's Triangular Wisp (formerly known as
Pickering's Triangle) running diagonally up the image middle. What is rarely imaged -- but seen in the featured long exposure across many color bands -- is the reflecting brown
dust that runs vertically up the image left, dust likely created in the cool atmospheres of massive
stars.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231018.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_231018.jpg[/img] [size=150]Dust and the Western Veil Nebula[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] It's so big it is easy to miss. The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191031.html]entire Veil Nebula[/url] spans six times the diameter of the [url=https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5048]full moon[/url], but is so dim you need [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binoculars#/media/File:Binocularp.svg]binoculars[/url] to see it. The nebula was created about [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_prehistory]15,000 years ago[/url] when a star in the [url=https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/]constellation[/url] of the Swan ([url=https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/cygnus.html]Cygnus[/url]) exploded. The [url=https://youtu.be/7zCPgdcdB5Q]spectacular explosion[/url] would have [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211114.html]appeared brighter[/url] than even [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230915.html]Venus[/url] for a week - but there is [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/1a/62/d11a627b5fe41146b7afa313548c2119.jpg]no known record[/url] of it. Pictured is the western edge of the still-expanding gas cloud. Notable gas filaments include the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180408.html]Witch's Broom Nebula[/url] on the upper left near the bright foreground star [url=http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/52cyg.html]52 Cygni[/url], and [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210727.html]Fleming's Triangular Wisp[/url] (formerly known as [url=https://www.davidcortner.com/slowblog/20161113.php]Pickering's Triangle[/url]) running diagonally up the image middle. What is rarely imaged -- but seen in the featured long exposure across many color bands -- is the reflecting brown [url=https://herscheltelescope.org.uk/science/infrared/dust/]dust[/url] that runs vertically up the image left, dust likely created in the cool atmospheres of massive [url=https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve/]stars[/url].
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