Iancu Dumitrescu / Ana-Maria Avram - At the GRM Paris (performed by Stephen O'Malley)

A ghostly visage on a cosmic scale, these remains of shocked, glowing gas haunt planet Earth's sky toward the constellation of Cygnus and form the Veil Nebula. The nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, an expanding cloud born of the death explosion of a massive star. Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. Also known as the Cygnus Loop, the Veil Nebula now spans nearly 3 degrees or about 6 times the diameter of the full Moon. That translates to over 70 light-years at it's estimated distance of 1,500 light-years. In fact, the Veil is so large it's brighter parts are recognized as separate nebulae, including The Witch's Broom (NGC 6960) pictured left of center. At the top right you can ?nd the Spectre of IC 1340.