These red and blue glowing tendrils of gas are part of a huge supernova remnant known as the Veil Nebula.
Astrophotographer Ron Brecher took this image from Guelph, Ontario on Sept. 21. The image shows NGC6960 (sometimes called "The Witch's Broom") at the top, and part of Pickering's triangle in the bottom half of the image. The Veil Nebula supernova remnant was created when a massive star exploded about 9,000 years ago. The complex is so large it covers about seven moon widths on the sky. [See More Amazing Photos of Supernova Explosions]
"This is my first time imaging using an Oxygen-3 filter (O3). This filter lets through the teal-colored light emitted by excited atoms of oxygen, similar to the way red (and some blue) light is emitted by excited hydrogen atoms," Brecher wrote in an email to Space.com.
Brecher used a Moravian G3-16200 EC camera (on loan from O’Telescope), with Optolong Ha, O3 and RGB filters, 10″ f/3.6 ASA astrograph, Paramount MX, QHY5 guide camera through Lumicon 500 mm f.l. achromat.
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