NGC 7635 - Bulle dans la mer cosmique
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Rolf
Geissinger
Adrift in a cosmic sea of
stars and glowing gas
the delicate, floating apparition left of center in this widefield view is
cataloged as NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula.
A mere 10 light-years wide, the tiny Bubble Nebula was blown
by the winds of a massive star.
It lies within a larger complex of interstellar
gas and dust
clouds found about 11,000
light-years
distant, straddling the boundary between the parental constellations
Cepheus and
Cassiopeia.
Included in the breathtaking vista is
open star
cluster M52 (lower left), some 5,000 light-years away.
Above and right of the Bubble Nebula is an emission region identified as
Sh2-157,
also known as the Claw Nebula.
Constructed from 47 hours of narrow-band and broad-band exposures,
this image spans about 3 degrees on the sky.
That corresponds to a width of 500 light-years at the
estimated distance of the Bubble Nebula.