The Veil Nebula complex, located in the constellation Cygnus, is the result of a supernova explosion estimated to have occurred between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago.  The larger eastern loop of this of the remnant is shown above.  The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus  Despite its distance of about 2,500 light-years, the supernova may have shown as bright as the moon for weeks, but no records of its observation have been discovered.  The gas expelled by this explosion has been expanding as a giant bubble, now colliding with hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gases that were previously shed by the dying star.  The collision creates a shock front, exciting the gases similar to an emission nebula with red hydrogen and teal oxygen. 

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  August 31, 2011 - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm wind - 60F.

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with average transparency. 

• Optics:  TeleVue NP101is Refractor w/1.5x extender -810mm f8.1

• Filter:  Astronomic  EOS clip-in CLS-CCD (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  AP900GTO

• Guiding:  None - PEC active

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  150 min (15 x 10 min ) @ ISO 1600, RAW - (total 2 1/2 hours)

• Calibration Frames:  16 Darks & 9 Bias frames

• Processing:  Images Plus 3.82b, Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, NIK, GradientX Term.

• Comments:  This is one of the first images taken from the StarEffects Observatory with the AP900GTO mount.  Some minor tracking errors are evident in some of the 10 minute sub-exposures. 

The Veil Nebula complex, located in the constellation Cygnus, is the result of a supernova explosion estimated to have occurred between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago.  The larger eastern loop of this of the remnant is shown above.

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  October 20, 2009 - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm wind - 35F.

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with average transparency. 

• Optics:  TeleVue TV60is Refractor (360mm -f/6) with field flattener.

• Filter:  Hutech IDAS-LPS (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  Losmandy G-11 equatorial with Gemini V4

• Guiding:  None

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  28 min (7 x 4 min ) @ ISO 800, RAW

• Calibration Frames:  In camera dark frame subtraction

• Processing:  Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, NIK 

• Comments:  This is one of my first light images that was tracked, but not guided.  Star Trailing resulted in part due to an off center polar alignment scope reticle and the need for Periodic Error Correction (PEC).