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Credit & Copyright: Kfir Simon
Explanation:
Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star,
this cosmic bubble is huge.
Cataloged as
Sharpless 2-308
it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the constellation of
the Big Dog (Canis Major)
and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon.
That corresponds
to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated
distance.
The massive star that created the bubble, a
Wolf-Rayet star,
is the bright one near the center of the nebula.
Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun and
are thought to be in a brief,
pre-supernova phase of massive star
evolution.
Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the
bubble-shaped nebula
as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution.
The windblown nebula has an age of
about
70,000 years.
Relatively faint emission captured in the expansive image
is dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atoms
mapped to a blue hue.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Wolf-Rayet star - nebula
Publications with words: Wolf-Rayet star - nebula
See also:
- APOD: 2024 June 11 Á Colorful Stars and Clouds near Rho Ophiuchi
- Sharpless 308: The Dolphin Head Nebula
- APOD: 2024 January 23 Á Deep Nebulas: From Seagull to California
- APOD: 2024 January 9 Á Thors Helmet
- APOD: 2023 June 14 Á The Shark Nebula
- APOD: 2023 March 29 Á Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble
- Wolf Rayet 124