Astronomy Picture of the Week – Witch’s Broom Nebula

November 3, 2010 /

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.

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Paul Tomaszewski

Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.