Another Veil Report !

[John]

Lots of threads running on this marvelous object at the moment but I feel compelled to add another one

The skies were very dark and transparent tonight from around 9:00 pm until midnight. I was using my 12" F/5.3 dobsonian and waited until Cygnus was very high in the sky before seeking out my favourite summer deep sky object, the Veil Nebula.

I knew it would be a bit special this evening because I was able to clearly see both the East and West segments of the filter without a filter and they were quite extensive as well.

I added my Astronomik O-III filter to the bottom of the ES 20mm 100 degree eyepiece and quickly became totally engrossed in exploring the details of this object, or rather group of objects.

The big ES eyepiece shows me 1.25 true degrees of sky at 79.5x with this scope. Both the east and west segments of the Veil (the Bridal Veil and the Witches Broom as they are also known) showed amazing amounts of contrast and detail - more than I've ever seen before. Both segments extended way beyond the extent of the field of view. The western segment (NGC 6960) could be followed from it's wider end where fine filaments which form the "bristles" of the broom could clearly be seen in a gently curving fan fading into the blackness of space. Following the body and "handle" of the broom it snaked down past the star 52 Cygni it meandered like a tapering serpent appearing to tail off to a point and looking rather like a tornado of nebulosity in space.

The eastern segment ((NGC 6992) appeared even more extensive and I had to examine it a section at a time even with the relatively expansive field of view I had available. This long arc of pale light seemed to have a layered and knotted appearance as it curved gracefully around what I'd estimate to be at least 2 degrees of sky. One end was quite ragged with strands and clumps of nebulosity scattering as if in a wind. Amidst and against this lovely arch of light faint stars glimmered. Stunning

Broadly in between the northern ends of the east and west segments, Pickerings Wisp appeared as so much more than that with dark patches and knots of light evident and another faintly curving structure trailing away from that. Far more complexity and form than I've seen before in this part of the Veil complex.

The views tonight fully confirmed the status of this object as my No 1 summer DSO and one of the finest sights in astronomy when presented as it was tonight.

Wonderful viewing

[Bart]

Nice report John. I love the veil in my 20mm ES 100* also. As you say, some nights it shows exquisite detail

Barry

[jetstream]

Great report John!This has inspired me to finally order a new eyepiece,similar in spec to yours(in my scope),one of the best objects IMHO we have the priviledge to see.Thanks for the help along the way with this fantastic gift of the universe.

[cotterless45]

Excellent ! Really good description of a wonderful Veil,

Nick.

[mdstuart]

I agree amazing description.

It was very transparent after the showers cleared.

My 14 inch telescope carrying assistant was in bed so I had to settle for the 90mm refractor!

I managed to see NGC 7814 a lovely galaxy in the Pegasus square. Nothing compared to that veil in size or complexity.

The dark clear nights have a special atmosphere to them. You can instantly tell when you go out that its special even with the naked eye. The milky way was very evident overhead.

Thanks for sharing John

Sent from my BlackBerry 9320 using Tapatalk

[Moonshane]

great report mate. it sounds like you got 'just a little' more detail than I got with my finder mod

(as you obviously know) in good skies and with good aperture this is the sort of object that rewards you with more detail the more you look at it - almost like a cosmological strip show.

[TwoPi]

Great report John, inspiring!

Unfortunately had an early start this morning but stuck my head out of doors last night before bed and noticed after rain mid-evening that the clouds had cleared and the view was the best I've seen for some time. As Mark says above, you can instantly tell an exceptional night, just with the naked eye. Really wish I'd dragged the scope out for an hour now. Ah well

[WaveSoarer]

That's a wonderful and very vivid report. The veil nebula is also one of my favourite objects.