NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula
What created this huge space bubble?
A massive star
that is not only bright and blue, but also
emitting a fast
stellar wind of
ionized gas.
The
Bubble Nebula is actually the smallest of three bubbles
surrounding massive star BD+602522, and part of
gigantic bubble network S162 created with the help of
other massive stars.
As fast moving gas expands off BD+602522,
it pushes surrounding sparse gas into a
shell.
The energetic starlight then
ionizes the shell,
causing it to glow.
The
above picture taken with the
Hubble Space Telescope and
released last week shows many details of the
Bubble Nebula
never seen before and many still not understood.
The nebula, also known as
NGC 7635, is about six light-years across
and visible with a small telescope
towards the constellation of Cassiopeia.