The Bubble
Credit & Copyright:
Ken Crawford
Blown by the wind from a star, this
tantalizing, ghostly
apparition is cataloged as NGC 7635, but known simply
as The
Bubble Nebula.
Astronomer Ken Crawford's
striking
view combines a long exposure through
a hydrogen alpha
filter
with color images to reveal
the intricate details of
this cosmic bubble and its environment.
Although it looks delicate, the 10 light-year diameter
bubble offers evidence of
violent processes at work.
Seen here above and left of the Bubble's center is a bright
hot star embedded in telltale blue
hues characteristic of dust reflected starlight.
A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from the
star, which likely has a mass 10 to 20 times that
of the Sun,
has blasted out the
structure of glowing gas
against denser material in a surrounding molecular cloud.
The intriguing Bubble Nebula lies a mere
11,000 light-years away toward the boastful
constellation Cassiopeia.