Using its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured a marvelous view of the Veil Nebula, located approximately 2,100 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus (the swan).
Otherwise known as the Cygnus Loop, the Veil Nebula is a remnant of a supernova, the expanding debris created by a stellar explosion whose light arrived on planet Earth 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.
In this image, new processing techniques have been applied, bringing out the fine details of the nebula’s delicate threads and ionized gas filaments. Subtle and delicate in appearance, these ribbons of shocked interstellar gas are part of a blast wave.
The Veil Nebula is also featured in Hubble’s Caldwell Catalog, a collection of astronomical objects that were imaged by Hubble and are visible to amateur astronomers in the night sky.