APOD: Along the Western Veil (2014 Apr 04)

[APOD Robot]

Along the Western Veil

Explanation: Delicate in appearance, these filaments of shocked, glowing gas, draped in planet Earth's sky toward the constellation of Cygnus, make up the western part of the Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, an expanding cloud born of the death explosion of a massive star. Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. Blasted out in the cataclysmic event, the interstellar shock wave plows through space sweeping up and exciting interstellar material. The glowing filaments are really more like long ripples in a sheet seen almost edge on, remarkably well separated into atomic hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue-green) gas. Also known as the Cygnus Loop, the Veil Nebula now spans nearly 3 degrees or about 6 times the diameter of the full Moon. While that translates to over 70 light-years at its estimated distance of 1,500 light-years, this wide image of the western portion spans about half that distance. Brighter parts of the western Veil are recognized as separate nebulae, including The Witch's Broom (NGC 6960) along the top of this view and Pickering's Triangle (NGC 6979) below and right of center.

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[Tara_Li]

Just be careful about looking at this with R/B anaglyph glasses. Freaky!

[Boomer12k]

Such nice detail...

:---[===] *

[AstroGG]

Really nice but the image is inverted!

[geckzilla]

Really nice but the image is inverted!

In what way do you mean it is inverted? I am confused.

Edit: I'm guessing you mean it is mirrored / flipped. For some reason I took inverted to mean something with the colors.

[AstroGG]

Really nice but the image is inverted!

In what way do you mean it is inverted? I am confused.

Edit: I'm guessing you mean it is mirrored / flipped. For some reason I took inverted to mean something with the colors.

The colors are beautiful. It's not the problem.

From Ask.com:
An inverted image, also known as a reversed image is an image which has undergone a rotation of 180 degrees about a plane. Normally the upper, lower, left and right margins of the real object are reversed. Most of such images are made by telescopes and some other optical mirrors.

Synonyms are : reversed, mirrored, flipped.

[CURRAHEE CHRIS]

....Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago.

Just curious but what would this mean here on earth 5,000 years ago? Does it mean that if the light reached during the day it would have been brighter for a period? Does it mean if it occured in the evening it may have lit up some portion of the sky? Perhaps it was a non event? Im just curious if this type of light would be something we would be able to recognize here on earth?

Very beautiful picture.

[Chris Peterson]

....Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago.

Just curious but what would this mean here on earth 5,000 years ago? Does it mean that if the light reached during the day it would have been brighter for a period? Does it mean if it occured in the evening it may have lit up some portion of the sky? Perhaps it was a non event? Im just curious if this type of light would be something we would be able to recognize here on earth?

It means that there would have been a new star in the sky for a few months. It would have been the brightest star in the sky, visible even in the day. It would not have made the day noticeably brighter, but it would cast weak shadows at night.

[CURRAHEE CHRIS]

....Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago.

Just curious but what would this mean here on earth 5,000 years ago? Does it mean that if the light reached during the day it would have been brighter for a period? Does it mean if it occured in the evening it may have lit up some portion of the sky? Perhaps it was a non event? Im just curious if this type of light would be something we would be able to recognize here on earth?

It means that there would have been a new star in the sky for a few months. It would have been the brightest star in the sky, visible even in the day. It would not have made the day noticeably brighter, but it would cast weak shadows at night.

Thanks for that Chris- visited your cloudbait website last friday- very informative and interesting!!! Enjoyed reading about your lifelong passion for astronomy and the different places youve visited in connection to astronomy. Pleasantly informative!!

Regards
CC

[LocalColor]

Oh my - another wonderful image. Guess I'm partial to nebulas.

[Jandotto]

Several things puzzle me:
Firstly I presume the blast from the supernova generates cosmic rays [high energy protons, helium nuclei and high energy light waves such as x-rays etc].
These, I presume, interact with interstellar hydrogen and oxygen atoms exciting them to higher energy, the 'colour' shown indicative of this excitation.
But why atomic - rather than molecular hydrogen and oxygen? Is this because of the interaction - or is interstellar material so disparate that these elements never find another atom to collide with? In chemical terms we would call them free radicals, highly reactive and unstable, prone to reform molecular hydrogen [H2] and oxygen [O2] given half a chance.

[starsurfer]

Pickering's Triangle was discovered by Williamina Fleming and she named it after her supervisor Edward Pickering. It is also known as Fleming's Triangular Wisp.

It would be awesome to see a deep mosaic of the whole Veil Nebula by Fabian Neyer!

[neufer]

Several things puzzle me:
Firstly I presume the blast from the supernova generates cosmic rays [high energy protons, helium nuclei and high energy light waves such as x-rays etc].
These, I presume, interact with interstellar hydrogen and oxygen atoms exciting them to higher energy, the 'colour' shown indicative of this excitation.
But why atomic - rather than molecular hydrogen and oxygen? Is this because of the interaction - or is interstellar material so disparate that these elements never find another atom to collide with? In chemical terms we would call them free radicals, highly reactive and unstable, prone to reform molecular hydrogen [H2] and oxygen [O2] given half a chance.

The cross section for cosmic rays is on the order of the size of the nuclei (~ 10^-13 cm.)².
The cross section for atomic collisions is on the order of size of the atoms (~ 10^-8 cm.)².
(The cross section for UV radiation is about the same.)

[JohnD]

What process has seperated out hydrogen and oxygen atoms to the extent that they appear to form different 'threads' in the Veil?
JOhn

[MarkBour]

When I look at this image, I have to say:
"Whoa, surf's up, dude!"

silversurfer.jpg (10.1 KiB) Viewed 9018 times

[neufer]

What process has separated out hydrogen and oxygen atoms to the extent that they appear to form different 'threads' in the Veil?

Hydrogen & oxygen nuclei probably started off with roughly the same velocities; however the oxygen nuclei have more momentum per unit charge causing them to be less deflected by magnetic fields. Hence the hydrogen nuclei ended up more scattered as well as being more deflected to either the background or foreground.

[JohnD]

Thank you, Art!
Less abtruse than usual, by a long way!
John

[starsurfer]

When I look at this image, I have to say:
"Whoa, surf's up, dude!"

silversurfer.jpg

starsurfer agrees with this sentiment.
I still want to see Iron Man flying to the Moon!

[sytheblackwolfe]

Hello from an amateur astronomer who just (re-)discovered this site. I'd come across it years ago, but forgot about it in the bustle of my daily life.

I just want to thank you all for the lovely pictures that inspire me and my children to learn more about this universe we live in!

By the way, in this picture, does anyone see the shape of some type of musical horn directly below the tail of the Witches' Broom? It was pointed out to me by my daughter, Chloe, and I thought I'd mention it here just for fun.