NGC 6992/6995, The Eastern Veil Nebula

The Astronomy Bug has been biting me pretty viciously lately. It's been too long since I've been out to the observatory! I try to ease my pain with an occasional imaging session with the ST80 whenever possible. One night in mid-October I managed to get a few minutes to take a few subs of the Eastern Veil Nebula.

The Veil Nebula is a supernova remnant located in the constellation Cygnus. It is a very large object in our skies, spanning an area of about six full moons, but it is not visible to the naked eye. (I have heard that it is barely visible in exceptionally dark skies, though.)

The Eastern Veil is one of the brighter sections. The Western Veil is also relatively bright.

NGC 6992/6995, The Eastern Veil Nebula; ST80 on Vixen SP; Canon EOS Rebel T3; 11x120 @ ISO-3200

For a detailed view of the entire Veil Complex, see Don Taylor's web site.

Messier 1, the Crab Nebula

The image below is a reprocessed version of the Crab Nebula that is posted on my web site.

I took five images of the Crab Nebula one night over a year ago, just to see what it would look like. My intention was to go back and do a proper imaging sequence when I had time. That time never came, and I have probably missed my opportunity to image it this year. As a consolation, I went back to the original five images and reprocessed them using the techniques that I have learned since creating the original.

Messier 1 (Crab Nebula), Epsilon-200 on NJP, 5x180

The Crab Nebula is probably the best known supernova remnant in the sky. Chinese astronomers noted the appearance of a "guest star" on July 4, 1054. The star was four times brighter than Venus, and visible in daylight for 23 days. It was visible to the naked eye at night for 653 days. A number of Native American groups also recorded the event in pictographs.

The debris cloud was discovered in 1731 by John Bevis. Charles Messier found it in 1758 (not realizing that it had been previously discovered), and mistook it for Halley's comet. He soon realized his mistake, and this prompted him to compile his famous catalog of fuzzy objects that are not comets--the Messier Catalog. Messier 1 gained is common name, Crab Nebula, based on a drawing made by Lord Rosse in 1844.

The true nature of the "guest star" was not revealed until the early 20th century, when astronomers compared the results of observations gathered over several years and found that the nebula was expanding. Calculations based partly on the rate of expansion revealed that the event that created the nova was the "guest star" observed by the Chinese in 1054.

Spooky Sky Sights!

Fall is my favorite time of year. We finally get some relief from the high temperatures of late summer, and the humidity drops. In addition, some very interesting things begin to appear in our skies. Halloween is almost here, and with the prospect of the local candy supply increasing significantly, I thought it might be appropriate to ring it in with some spooky sights.

Just off the star Rigel, in the constellation of Eridanus, lies a faint reflection nebula cataloged as IC 2118. The popular moniker for this object is the Witch Head Nebula. You need very dark skies and a fairly large telescope to see this nebula visually--8" aperture to see the brighter portions, 16" for a chance to see any detail--but I was able to get an image using 3-minute exposures with my little ST80.

The "head" is a profile view, with a long, pointy nose, an open mouth, and a pointy chin. Rigel is located out of frame to the right.

IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula

No self-respecting witch would go without transportation. This one left her broom parked in the Cygnus constellation:

NGC 6960, the Witch's Broom.  Also known as the Western Veil Nebula.

NGC 6960, which is sometimes called the Witch's Broom, is part of a vast supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop. The Loop is about 3 degrees across, which is about six times the width of the full moon. The star that created it exploded about 15,000 years ago.