                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 September 4
   Red glowing gas is seen before a dark starfield. On the upper right is
   a complicated filamentary nebula in blue and red. On the lower left is
    a simple circular nebula in blue. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                         Cygnus: Bubble and Crescent
                    Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Al-Harbi

   Explanation: As stars die, they create clouds. Two stellar death clouds
   of gas and dust can be found toward the high-flying constellation of
   the Swan (Cygnus) as they drift through rich star fields in the plane
   of our Milky Way Galaxy. Caught here within the telescopic field of
   view are the Soap Bubble (lower left) and the Crescent Nebula (upper
   right). Both were formed at the final phase in the life of a star. Also
   known as NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula 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. Discovered in 2013, the 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. Both stellar nebulas are about 5,000 light-years distant, with
   the larger Crescent Nebula spanning about 25 light-years across. Within
   a few million years, both will likely have dispersed.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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