Posted on 04/22/2016 6:42:44 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Blown by the wind from a massive star, this interstellar apparition has a surprisingly familiar shape. Cataloged as NGC 7635, it is also known simply as The Bubble Nebula. Although it looks delicate, the 7 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at work. Above and left of the Bubble's center is a hot, O-type star, several hundred thousand times more luminous and around 45 times more massive than the Sun. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from that star has blasted out the structure of glowing gas against denser material in a surrounding molecular cloud. The intriguing Bubble Nebula and associated cloud complex lie a mere 7,100 light-years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp, tantalizing view of the cosmic bubble is a composite of Hubble Space Telescope image data from 2016, released to celebrate the 26th anniversary of Hubble's launch.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA)]
The Big One and a link to yesterday's extra -- Hubble captures birthday bubble -- in case today's APoD seems suspiciously familiar...
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Absolutely beautiful!
:’)
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