Crescent And Bubble Nebulas In Cygnus: Astronom Picture Of The Day

Astronomy Picture Of The Day: the Bubble and Crescent nebulas in Cygnus.

The image is just breath taking. The amount of detail is just mind blowing.



From the source:

These clouds of gas and dust drift through rich star fields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the high flying constellation Cygnus. Caught within the telescopic field of view are the Soap Bubble (lower left) and the Crescent Nebula (upper right). Both were formed at a final phase in the life of a star. Also known as NGC 6888, the Crescent was shaped as its bright, central massive Wolf-Rayet star, WR 136, shed its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind. Burning through fuel at a prodigious rate, WR 136 is near the end of a short life that should finish in a spectacular supernova explosion. recently discovered Soap Bubble Nebula is likely a planetary nebula, the final shroud of a lower mass, long-lived, sun-like star destined to become a slowly cooling white dwarf. While both are some 5,000 light-years or so distant, the larger Crescent Nebula is around 25 light-years across.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Okay, trying not to be the stereotypical orb, death star, Christmas ornament, intergalactic johnny appleseed mother ship.

Friggin awesome…

Looks amazing, like most Nasa app pictures, but after a while it becomes frustrating cos the images shown are very rarely optical, more a blend of different wavelengths (radio, gamma) from different tools. Still amazing though.

shown in the picture is what has been called a sun. the back door view with the opening being a bend of course. the opposite side of what has been called a black hole. it is likely what is shown is no longer active considering the debris.

a reply to: rossacus

Dude, Nasa did not take this picture.

This guy did

a reply to: eriktheawful

This guy did

Thanks for that.

Still fascinating whoever made these pictures. To think that a trillions of liquid hydrogen and helium gas become so pressurized and hot through gravity alone to cause fusion, create complex electro hydromagnetic currents and turbulence before exploding to form superscale bubbles in space.

That guy takes some fantastic photos! Let no one say that NASA holds the monopoly on photographing space!

And yeah, the Cygnus region is a gift that keeps giving; so many beautiful nebulae there.www.randombio.com...

Absolutely stunning images- thank you!
The guys site is fantastic- gorgeous photos and detailed descriptions. Love it, thanks again!