Astronomy Picture of the Week – Witch’s Broom Nebula

This nebula known technically as NGC 6960 but nicknamed the “Witch’s Broom Nebula” is an expanding cloud of debris that gains its colors by sweeping up and exciting existing nearby gas. The nebula was created by a supernova explosion about ten thousand years ago. It is located about 1400 light-years away towards the constellation of Cygnus.

Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mount Lemmon SkyCenter, Univ. Arizona.