Witch’s Broom Nebula

The Witch’s Broom is the western component of the Veil supernova remnant; a huge 3 degree diameter shell that is the remains of an expanding supernova that exploded 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. It was mostly like seen from Earth, being only 1,400 to 2,500 light years distant. The bright star that plays havoc with long exposure images is 51 Cygni. This is a popular visual target when used with visual OIII filters. It is a fascinating target for CCD astrophotography due to the myriad of fine OIII- and H-a-rich intertwinning filaments. There is a wonderful video simulation of the supernova explosion leading to the placment of the remaining visible segments, that also include Pickering’s Triangle(NGC 6979) and the Eastern Veil (NGC 6992) at:
http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/in_motion_show-07073102.html
This image was taken with 3 nm Astrodon OIII and H-a filters to enhance the contrast of the filamentary structure, but to provide "natural" color. Short RGB data were added for star color. Data were taken in our suburban backyard under mag 4.5 skies with the moon up for the narrowband data and RGB before the moon came up.