W63 (SNR G82.2+5.3) in Cygnus
W63 is a large and faint supernova remnant with a size of 95x65 arcminutes located in a complex region of nebulosity in Cygnus. Otherwise catalogued as G82.2+5.3, the name of W63 comes from the Westerhout catalogue of radio sources, which was published by the astronomer Gart Westerhout in 1958. The optical emission seems to be exclusively reserved to the [OIII] emission line and requires a long exposure to be visible. The structure consists of thin sharply defined filaments that form a vaguely oval shell. Studies by professional astronomers have estimated the distance to be 10,000 light years. The red emission nebulosity in this area is unrelated to W63 as it lies at a different distance. These nebulae are catalogued in the LBN and DWB catalogues, most notably LBN 325 being the large nebula at the top of the image. Various dark nebulae from the LDN catalogue obscure parts of this region. The small blue nebula near the bottom right corner is the planetary nebula PM 1–320, which was discovered by Andrea Preite-Martinez in 1988 as a possible planetary nebula and confirmed to be a true planetary nebula in 2019.
[description from Sakib Rasool]
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