NGC 6888 [
http://www.noao.edu…], also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble [
http://arxiv.org/ab…] about 25 light-years across, blown by winds [
http://www.sdsc.edu…] from its central, bright, massive star. Near the center of this intriguing widefield view of interstellar gas clouds and rich star fields [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away. The three color composite [
http://dg-imaging.a…display.cfm?imgID=56 ] image was created by stacking exposures through narrow band filters that transmit the light [
http://hubblesite.o…meaning_of_color/eag le.shtml ] from atoms in the clouds. Hydrogen is shown as green, sulfur as red, and oxygen as blue. NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star [
http://www.peripatu…] (WR 136) and is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of our Sun's mass every 10,000 years. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life [
http://heasarc.gsfc…background-lifecycle s.html ], this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
NGC 6888 [
http://www.noao.edu…], also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble [
http://arxiv.org/ab…] about 25 light-years across, blown by winds [
http://www.sdsc.edu…] from its central, bright, massive star. Near the center of this intriguing widefield view of interstellar gas clouds and rich star fields [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away. The three color composite [
http://dg-imaging.a…display.cfm?imgID=56 ] image was created by stacking exposures through narrow band filters that transmit the light [
http://hubblesite.o…meaning_of_color/eag le.shtml ] from atoms in the clouds. Hydrogen is shown as green, sulfur as red, and oxygen as blue. NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star [
http://www.peripatu…] (WR 136) and is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of our Sun's mass every 10,000 years. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life [
http://heasarc.gsfc…background-lifecycle s.html ], this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
