NGC 6960 - The Witches Broom

Detailed Information:
Approximately 15,000 years ago an unknown star went super nova in the constellation, Cygnus. The result is the Veil Nebula or what is referred to as the Cygnus Loop. The western extent of this nebula is known as "The Witches Broom" or NGC 6960. It is also catalogued as Caldwell 34. The Western Veil (NGC 6960) is located approximately 3 degrees south of Epsilon Cygni, and it touches the Mag 4.23 star 52 Cygni. The brightness of 52 Cygni makes it challenging to visualize this portion of the nebula through an eyepiece and it makes it challenging to image without an anti-blooming gain camera. The remarkable filamentary structure of this super nova remnant is quite beautiful! NGC 6960 extends approximately one third again as far up and to the right as what is seen in this image, but enough is captured to demonstrate why it has been named, "The Witches Nebula."