Object description (wikipedia.org):
The
Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionized_gas]ionized gas[/url] and dust in the constellation
Cygnus.
It constitutes the visible portions of the
Cygnus Loop, a
supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers.The source
supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the
Sun which exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.
At the time of explosion, the supernova would have appeared brighter than
Venus in the sky, and visible in daytime. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, and 36 times the area, of the full Moon).
While previous distance estimates have ranged from 1200 to 5800 [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-years]light-years[/url], a recent determination of 2400 light-years is based on direct astrometric measurements. (The distance estimates affect also the estimates of size and age.)The
Hubble Space Telescope captured several images of the
nebula. The analysis of the [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_line]emissions[/url] from the nebula indicates the presence of
oxygen,
sulfur, and
hydrogen. The Cygnus Loop is also a strong emitter of
radio waves and [url=mw-redirect=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-rays]x-rays[/url].
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