The Western Veil Nebula (Caldwell 34)

The Western Veil, also known as the Witch’s Broom, is one part of the Veil Nebula system in the constellation Cygnus. This system is actually the remnant of a supernova and the various parts of the Veil are the remaining bits of gas and dust pushed outward the star exploding.

What is great about this region of the sky, is that Cygnus, the Swan, is a region of the sky literally rich in imaging targets over the course of the fall and winter. This area of the sky is also rich in Hydrogen gas and many of the Nebula that can be found there such as the North American Nebula (NGC 7000O) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) are some of the largest.

You can learn more about The Veil Nebula here.

I captured this target in November 2019 as one of my first real imaging targets. While this one is only made from one and half hours’ worth of data collection it turned out not too terrible. I’ll certainly be returning to it as the Veil system comes back more into view.