APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula
Explanation: 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 Bubble Nebula , also known as NGC 7635, is about 10 light-years across and visible with a small telescope towards the constellation of Cassiopeia .
| Date | November 17, 1998 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: T. Bonev et al. (Astron. Inst., U. Bonn), Pik Terskol Obs. |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |