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 10 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence
of violent processes at
work.
Above and right of the Bubble's center is a hot, O 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 lies a mere 11,000 light-years
away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia.
This view of the cosmic bubble is composed of narrowband
and broadband image data, capturing details in the emission region while
recording a natural looking field of stars.
Image Credit & Copyright: Yves Van den Broek