The Bubble Nebula | Hubble

The Bubble Nebula | Hubble

The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, is an emission nebula located 8,000 light-years away. It is also referred to as Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11. It is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575 (BD+60°2522).

The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. It was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope to celebrate its 26th year in space in 2016.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Hubble Heritage Team

Release Date: April 21, 2016

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