Veil nebula

[Liz]

I had a ... very quick look the other night for this supernova remnant in Cygnus, with no luck, but was incoming cloud alert.
Is this difficult to see?
Which filter is best .... 0111?
Which EP - I would think a wider view would be best ie .... 32mm??
Any tips. :)

[mozzie]

hi liz
i was thinking a h-beta i read it somewhere i while ago and yes a nice low power wide eyepiece.

[mozzie]

my appologize liz a OIII and a uhc will show more remnants of the veil the cocoon neb is better with the h-beta.i was miles away when posting before

[astro744]

It is difficult but not impossible.

The object is large and is split into two halves; east and west. An O-III filter on a 32 or 40mm eyepiece is best but note to get a complete half with a typical Dob Newt of say 1500mm f.l. you will need a 2" low power wide field eyepiece and 2" filter for better framing of the object. A dark sky is highly recommended too. Find the star 52 Cyg and you should see one half of the nebula with an O-III filter and low power. A 6" Newt is more than enough to spot it.

[Liz]

ta Peter. :)



thank you astro .... well, have an O-111, and a 32mm (though not 2"), so will line up on star 52 Cyg Sat night, and voila!! ;)

[Brian W]

Hi, a filter will make it better but with our 8" LightBridge at 40x it was visible sans filter. Certainly not all the time but it is doable. Dark skies, no high thin for it to hide in and it comes into direct vision observing.
Brian

[Liz]

Thanks Brian ... heres hoping for VERY clear skies. :)

[Kevnool]

Liz search your star maps for 52 cygni a bright star right alongside it and wham it will be there with and without a OIII but the filter is far better.
Cheers Kev.

[Suzy]

Hi Liz,
Have a look at this great link written by David Knisley- aside from a very informative read regarding the use of filters, it also tells you which filter is best suited for each object.

http:////pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/filters.htm (http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/filters.htm)

Happy viewing of the Veil Neb! (Haven't seen this one myself yet).

[jjjnettie]

I've spotted the Veil through binos , holding a UHC filter in front of one of the lenses. (Why? because I wanted to see if it was possible)
It really is quite a large object. Once tracked down with a wide field ep, it's great to explore the finer detail using a 12mm. So much detail!!!
It's one of the most beautiful objects in the sky.

[Liz]

Wow!!! Thats great jjj. :)

Thanks Suzy - will have a read of that, and think I have read some of his stuff on filters before .... but have forgotton it all. :rolleyes:

Thanks Kev - yes, that little star seems to be the secret. ;)

[Liz]

Thats a great article by David Kingley, Suzy - love the section on all the nebulas and which filter is best.
UHC is the overall filter winner.

And ....

VEIL NEBULA NGC 6960-95 (SNR in Cygnus)
(10 inch f/5.6, 52x).
DEEP-SKY: (3) Nebula is easier to see than without a filter, with both sides of the loop being visible, including the section through 52 Cygni.
UHC: (4) Large increase in detail and contrast! Nebula really stands out with some filamentary detail. Hints of other strands in the interior of the loop.
OIII: (5) ENORMOUS INCREASE IN CONTRAST AND DETAIL with wonderful fine filaments and strands visible even between the two main arcs, making the entire complex closely resemble its photograph. OIII is the filter of choice here.
H-BETA: (1) Very dim, but still visible (forget it!).
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VEIL: OIII/UHC (OIII is somewhat better but H-BETA is
NOT recommended).

[Kevnool]

Tell us how you go now Liz ?
Did ya observe it.
Cheers Kev.

[Liz]

Will do Kev .... Saturday night is the go. :)

[astroron]

I spent some time last night observing the Veil Nebula using a University Optics 55mm Eyepiece (33xmag)16" scope.
Transparency and Seeing was quite reasonable both about 7-10, 10 being best.
I used both O111 and UHC filters.
The eyepiece gives an area of about one and a half degrees
The Nebula was visible without filter but was not pronounced but was still easy to see.
The O111 filter really brought the nebula to life though dulling the stars, but still a splendid sight.
The UHC filter gave the most pleasing view as it did not darken the sky so much and the star's where still bright and the nebula was very crisp .
I had to blink the eyepieces with the filters as my filters are only 1.25" not
2".
I used to get good views of the Veil with my 8" SCT but have not used it on this object for a long time:rolleyes:

[Liz]

Wow, that is great!! Thanks Ron. :thumbsup:
Ooh, a 55mm EP, may have to upgrade my EPs ... ;)
Have both those filters, cant wait to give it a go. :)

[astroron]

Liz, with the Veil transiting at about 01:40 and nearly 40deg altitude in your location, you should get a much better view than us observers further south:D
I look forward to your report soon:thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Yes, please Liz, give us an observation report. :) ;)

[Liz]

We had an excellent night up here viewing .... once the Moon sunk behind the trees.
Once Cygnus had risen a bit, I pointed the scope to 52 Cygni with my 15mm, scanned around area with no result, so changed too 32mm televue plossl. Scanning, but still not seeing anything. In the meantime, others around me were finding it ... bugger .... checked through their scopes to see how it looked, then back to mine, and there it was!!
Probably expecting more, but when you first see something it may seem faint, then the more you look, the more prominent it becomes. :)
Popped in the UHC which helped a little, then the O-111 which improved it a bit again. Kept on looking and trolling around the area,and more the remnant was becoming visible, very beautiful!!! Its covers such a large area, with quite a few large wispy threads.
Mission accomplished, thank you all. :)
Also had a quick look at North American Nebula near Deneb in Cygnus, its was a lot fainter, but still got it. ;)

[Brian W]

Hi Liz, as an alien female you may not be familiar with the human concept of flirting. The first rule is to never make direct eye contact... or at least not until you have seriously noticed each other.

Also as an alien it might be that you are not aware that the veil is and was used to hide and entice.

Many have found that flirting works and patience is almost always rewarded.
Brian

[Brian W]

Hi Liz, as an alien female you may not be familiar with the human concept of flirting. The first rule is to never make direct eye contact... or at least not until you have seriously noticed each other.

Also as an alien it might be that you are not aware that the veil is and was used to hide and entice.

Many have found that flirting works and patience is almost always rewarded.
Brian

[Liz]

:lol: well, the veil is certainly pretty enough to be used for this practice.

[astrospotter]

Liz, which UHC did you use? Lumicon? Not all are the same for H-Alpha.

Lumicon cuts out all H-Alpha I think (see http://astrosurf.com/buil/filters/curves.htm#Lumicon%20UHC)

Baader UHC-S and Astronomik UHC filters will let that fairly important line through nicely. Our eyes are not very sensitive there but 50% of a strong signal is better than none at all. Our eyes love OIII and H-Beta but the H-Beta in these things is generally way way down from H-Alpha. H-Beta is of course our good old horsehead or California nebula specialized filter.

Something I notice is that use of an Omega NPB filter helps nebula that have a fairly strong H-Alpha component (like Veil, North American Nebula, and Dumbell Nebula). Our eyes falloff on red but since the nebula is strong in H-Alpha you get just a bit more. The Lumicon UTC allows only a little H-Alpha but not a lot like the NPB filter or Baader and Astronomik UHC filters. NPB is the one I switch back to from time to time against the OIII because sometimes it really helps bring things out a bit more. Not all UHC are created equal.


The Astronomik UHC and Baader UHC-S filters will allow H-Alpha as well as Nitrogen II come through so that one may be nice as well (cannot comment, have only seen it's specs). M27 is strong in Nitrogen 2. Astronomik UHC is not a narrow band around the H-Alpha like the NPB or Baader so the deeper red components of background glow may cut contrast a little more than NPB. Again, only pure chart reading and really deep reds our own eyes cut out anyway.

Would be nice to have the bucks to buy them all ... but that is another thread on IceInSpace :lol:

so many filters ... so little cash.

[Liz]

Thanks for that info Mark ... it was a Baader UHC. :)

Just found this interesting article from Skyhound -

http://observing.skyhound.com/archives/aug1/NGC_6960.html

[astrospotter]

That is I think almost the best of the best UHC from the graphs although it is a bit fat in the O3 area which impacts contrast a bit I should think.
I am starting to think it may be the way to go. It has higher transmission and a flatter band for those H-Alpha and Nitrogen 2 reds.

For me up north here I think of the Veil as your Vela Super Nova but not as kewl. I got lost in that Vela Supernova back down there in March. All wispy and complex. But from here (+36) you can sort of forget about the Vela Supernova giving up all that wispy stuff seed down south.

I just wish those little tiny filters had a little tiny price tag. :(