NGC 6960 - Western Veil - Pickerings Triangle

From Sky at Night Magazine: The Veil Nebula is a supernova remnant located 2,100 lightyears away in the Cygnus constellation that spans 110 lightyears across. A supernova remnant is the remains of a star that has ended its life in an explosion known as a supernova. In the case of the Veil Nebula, the star in question was 20 times the mass of the Sun and exploded about 8,000 years ago. A blast wave from the stellar explosion is hitting cooler, more dense interstellar gas and emitting light in the process.

The Veil Nebula is part of the larger Cygnus Loop structure, and the delicate filaments and almost fragile-looking structure are what give the Veil Nebula its nickname. Because the Veil Nebula is so expansive, astrophotographers love to capture separate sections of the nebula, which have been allocated different names.

The Western Veil Nebula, NGC 6960, is also known as the Witch’s Broom, due to its long, thin, raggedy appearance.

The bright star that can be seen in images of the Western veil is 52 Cygni, and is actually nothing to do with the nebula itself. It is merely a foreground star that just appears to be part of the nebula from our perspective.