NGC 7635

NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, close to an open star cluster, M52. The bubble is the collision of a stellar wind from a massive 9th magnitude star about 11,000 light years from Earth. Radiation from the star is pushing gas outward in a spherical shape some 10 light years in diameter around the star and when it collides with a molecular cloud in that part of space, it becomes excited to glow. This process is similar to what is happening in NGC 2359, known as Thor's Helmet. And just like the central star in that nebula, the one in the Bubble will soon explode as a supernova.

Image taken September 4, 2012, with the D-14 operating at F:7 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure is 20 minutes, a total of 3 self-guided images stacked together. Processing with Maxim and Photoshop.

 

Image taken August 7, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Total exposure is 40 minutes.