Daily Image
06-09-2010
Witch Broom
| Submitter: | Albert van Duin |
| Description: | The Witch Broom Nebula (NGC6960) is part of a big supernova remnant in Cygnus. The source supernova exploded some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area of ~3x3 degrees; about 6 times the diameter or 36 times the area of a full moon. The red and greenish-blue colours are caused by glowing ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms (H-alpha and O-III). It's also interesting that in the top of the image fewer stars are visible than below the nebula. This is caused by gas and dust obscuring the stars of the Milky Way in this region of sky. The object is favourably placed in the sky around this time of year, so it's an ideal photograpic target. This image was captured in Southern France using a small (106mm aperture) refractor telescope and a CCD camera with red, green and blue filters. Integration time was 2 x 10 minutes for each colour. In the full image at: http://astropix.nl/CombineChannelTarget_1_PS.jpg another part of this supernova remnant is visible: Pickering's Triangle (NGC6979). The third part of this complex, the Veil Nebula (NGC6992), was featured in an earlier ASTRON Daily Image on December 13, 2006. |
| Copyright: | Albert van Duin |
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