NGC 7635 is known as the Bubble Nebula, and is located between 7,000 and 11,000 light-years away from us. This is a very rare example of a planetary nebula around a class OB star. The central star is an energetic Wolf-Rayet star. The central star is expelling gas at velocities of thousands of kilometers per second literally blowing a vast bubble in space. Wolf-Rayet stars are rare and incredibly hot. Typically, Wolf-Rayet stars are in a temperature range between 25,000K and 50,000K. The Bubble Nebula is between 6 and 10 light-years in diameter. In this image, the central star shines at maganitude 8. The brightest star in this image is just below the Bubble Nebula, and shines at maganitude 6.7, but this is because it is much closer to us, not because it is actually brighter than the Wolf-Rayet star at the center of the Bubble Nebula. NGC 7635 is located near open star cluster M52.
This is a composite RGB color CCD image of the Bubble Nebula. The image was taken with a Takahashi Epsilon 250 at prime focus (f3.4) using an SBIG ST-8XE CCD. The image was made from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
NGC 7635
Constellation: Cassiopeia
RA: 23h 20m 45s Dec: +61d 12' 42" (J2000)
July 2 & 5, 2005
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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