A 2020 Western Veil frame from the archive, preserved beside the later 2021 and 2022 versions.
- What am I looking at?
- The Witch's Broom is a filament of the Veil Nebula, the expanding remnant of a supernova that exploded thousands of years ago.
- How far away is it?
- About 2,400 light-years away.
- Where is it in the sky?
- In Cygnus, near the star 52 Cygni.
- Why does it matter?
- Supernova remnants like this reveal the physics of exploded stars and shocked interstellar gas.
- When is the best time to photograph it?
- Summer when Cygnus is well placed, ideally under dark skies.
Capture summary
Nebula in Cygnus
Moon Full
L-eNhance OSC
Summer target / wide composition
- L-eNhance 3h 10m 38 x 300s / Moon Full
- Totals 3h 10m Moon Full
Same target, different years.
Older revisions stay in the archive so you can see how the target changed with different equipment, processing, and experience.
When to image this target
Nebula in Cygnus; best planned for June through August from New Jersey.
Summer targets often improve later at night as the Milky Way climbs higher.
Assumes a New Jersey backyard horizon and evening imaging.
Emission nebulae are good candidates for narrowband filters; reflection nebulae prefer darker skies.
NGC 6960 is listed here in Cygnus.
Current frame: Natural and narrowband blend / L-eNhance OSC.
Live altitude, moon, and filter guidance
Calculating target altitude and moon context.
Use the full planner to enter a ZIP code, choose a date, and compare the target from your sky.
Based on the current time.
Green marks usable dark-sky altitude.
Next upper transit.
Approximate horizon crossing.
Moon phase and altitude.
Acquisition & processing notes
Filter channels, integration times, and capture dates for this frame. View on AstroBin.
- Optolong L-eNhance 2 38 x 300s, 3h 10m
How I captured this
| Channel | Frames | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Optolong L-eNhance 2 | 38 x 300s | 3h 10m |
- Equipment used
- From my current rig
- Mount
- iOptron CEM60
- Telescope
- Explore Scientific FCD100 127mm Carbon Fiber Triplet APO
- Camera
- ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Filters
- Chroma 36mm Ha, OIII, SII, and LRGB (ZWO EFW 7×36mm)
- Focuser / rotator
- MoonLite NiteCrawler
- Reducer
- Starizona Apex ED 0.65×
- Guiding
- ZWO off-axis guider + ASI290MM Mini
- Control / power
- PrimaLuceLab Eagle 4S, Powerwerx PSU, Bioenno field battery, and MEGAbox
