The Bubble Nebula, NGC 7635


burbuja

Right Ascension Declination Distance Magnitude
23:20:42 61º 12' 00" 7,100 lyrs 7.0


What is the Bubble Nebula?

The Bubble Nebula is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia.

What is an emission nebula?

An emission nebula occurs when an extremely hot star at the center of a nebula emits enough UV radiation to heat the surrounding dust and gas enough to excite the material into giving off its own radiation, in the form of hydrogen alpha particles, which is what gives most emission nebulae their reddish color.  

So what's special about the Bubble?

The star in the center of the Bubble Nebula is emitting an extremely strong solar wind, in addition to its normal radiation. The radiation, travelling obviously at the speed of light, reaches the surrounding dust and gas first, causing it to emit light. But travelling more slowly than the radiation, but still at incredible speeds of 4 million mph, is the solar wind, which pushes the material out, blowing a bubble in space and carving out a hole around the star.  

My picture...

composite

This picture was taken December 6, 2006, with some scattered clouds, which potentially obscured the viewing.  I used a five minute exposure, and v, i, and r filters to make the above composite image.  The Bubble could not be completely imaged with our telescope, but the outline can be seen to the bottom of the image, and compared to the image at the top of this page for reference. 

Sources

http://www.physics.brocku.ca/courses/1f00/Nebulae/Bubble/
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000118.html
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2000/04/