The Western Veil Nebula (aka the Witch's Broom Nebula, NGC 6960 and Sharpless 103) is a beautiful supernova remnant Born around 10,000 years ago, this delicate web of gas shows shell-like structures as it expands into the interstellar medium. Note the subtle difference in the distribution of stars above the upper part of the nebula (the Witch's Broom itself) and below it. Above the nebula, invisible dust is obscuring stars, below it, the shock wave of the supernova has cleared it away. The bright star in the image (52 Cygni) is a foreground object and is not associated with the nebula.
Below NGC 6960 is the much fainter Pickering's Triangle. It was discovered in 1904 by Williamina Fleming, but the credit for the discovery went to the director of the observatory, Edward Charles Pickering (which was customary at that time).
I've included a starless version of the image, which shows in great detail the complexity and delicacy of this wonderful region.
Tech card: RASA 8; DS10C; NBX filter. 2+ hours of integration (individual frames from 24-40 seconds).
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