The Veil Nebula is the glowing shock wave caused by the remnants of a supernova that exploded 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. It is so large on the sky, covering about 6 full-moon diameters, that various parts of it are separately cataloged as NGC 6960, NGC 6979, NGC 6975, NGC 6992, NGC 6995, and IC1340. Shown below are three black-and-white images of portions of the veil taken with a CCD camera followed by an older color-film-based image showing most of the veil.

The western portion of the Veil, cataloged as NGC 6960.

Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f5.4. 240 minutes through an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter using a QSI 583 on 2011-11-04 from Northern New Jersey. North is to the left. ©2011

The north-central portion of the Veil, known as Pickering's Triangle, cataloged as Simeis 3-188.

Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f5.4. 256 minutes through an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter using a QSI 583 on 2011-11-06 from Northern New Jersey. North is to the left. ©2011

The eastern portion of the Veil, cataloged as NGC 6992, NGC 6995, and IC 1340.

Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f5.4. 256 minutes through an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter using a QSI 583 on 2011-11-05 from Northern New Jersey. North is to the left. ©2011

A wide view showing most of the Veil Nebula from an older, film-based photo.

Astro-Physics 105mm (4.1 inch) refractor at f/4.5. Three 25-minute exposures on gas-hypersensitized Kodak Supra 400 PPF color-negative film. Photographed from Speculator, New York, August 9, 2002. North is to the upper left. ©2002