New processing techniques make a Hubble image of the Veil Nebula more spectacular

Shane McGlaun - Apr 3, 2021 SLASHGEAR

Over the many years the Hubble Space Telescope has spent orbiting the Earth, it has had its share of issues. The space telescope has also taken some of the most spectacular images of the cosmos humans have ever seen. One of the most beautiful images Hubble has taken is of the Veil Nebula.

NASA originally shared the image seen above of the Veil Nebula in 2015. The image was recently treated to some new image processing techniques make it even more impressive. The incredibly detailed image of the nebula shows all of the delicate details of its cloud-like structure. The new image processing techniques revealed previously unseen details of the structure inside the nebula.

The Veil Nebula itself is a remnant from a supernova that is 2100 light-years from the Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Hubble is currently a joint project between NASA and the ESA. The ESA describes the new image as showing the nebula’s “delicate threads and filaments of ionized gas.”

The new post-processing method further enhances details of the emissions from doubly ionized oxygen (seen in blue colors), ionized hydrogen, and ionized nitrogen (seen in red). The image shows only a portion of the nebula that was once home to a huge star that exploded.

For those who want to see more detail, the ESA Hubble website has the full-size image available for download here. Scientists worldwide are looking forward to the next generation of space telescope that will offer an even greater ability to peer deep into the cosmos and will undoubtedly result in more incredible images for us to look at in the future.