Friday, September 17, 2010

APOD 1.3

APOD 2010 September 16th: The Veil Nebula



This is yet another supernova remnant. The light from the explosion of the previous star reached Earth approximately 5,000 years ago.  It's interesting to see the varying bright and dim parts of this specific nebula.  For instance there are two specifically bright spans located at the very top and the very bottom.  In comparison to the other streaks of gas these two areas are exceedingly bright.  This may explain why one of these areas has been named; that is how much it sticks out in the night sky. It's called The Witch's Broom and spans three times the angular distance of the moon.  This is a huge bright area in the sky that is extroardinarily beautiful.

P.S.: The beauty of the Veil Nebula takes all of the attention originially. However I looked past it for a second and realized that the number of stars photographed is simply mind blowing.  This is only one tiny portion of the infinite sky.

No comments:

Post a Comment