Cygnus Loop

Cygnus Loop — nebula, explore its interactive 3D model in Cosmoscope.

Explore Cygnus Loop in an interactive 3D view of space. Inspect its astronomical data and the observations or reconstructions behind the model.

The expanding blast wave of an exploded star, with the Eastern and Western Veil and other filaments tracing a broken, roughly spherical shell. This view uses the orange, cream and blue optical filaments and purple X-ray emission in the Chandra composite. Different filament regions occupy different depths around the hollow shell. Their near/far placement and cloud thickness are illustrative, not a measured 3D scan.

Type

Supernova remnant

Age

~20,000 years

Distance

2,400 light-years

Span

~120 light-years — six full moons in the sky

Includes

The Veil Nebula

Shown here

Distinct gas clouds around a representative spherical shock shell

Depth

Near/far placement and cloud thickness are illustrative

Colours

Optical composite colours; purple represents Chandra X-rays

Image credit

X-ray: NASA/SAO/CXC · Optical: John Stone · Processing: L. Frattare, N. Wolk

Explore Cygnus Loop in 3D

Cygnus Loop is placed in three-dimensional space using catalogue coordinates and an adopted astronomical distance. Rotate and zoom to explore the model. Stellar surfaces, gas structure and dust depths may be reconstructed or illustrative, as described in its facts; this is not live imagery from a telescope.