Re: [APML] The amazing Bubble Nebula

["Richard Crisp" <rdcrisp@earthlink.net>]

that looks nice Rob. You are really producing some top notch images from the 
new observatory

I am glad to see you competitive again: no need to let those other guys have 
all the fun.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Gendler" <robgendler@worldnet.att.net>
To: "Discussion of Film Astrophotography" <astro-photo@seds.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 5:22 PM
Subject: [APML] The amazing Bubble Nebula


> Hi all,
>
> Here's a 10 hour effort on the Bubble nebula. Below the image
>
> link is a write up I did on this amazing object.
>
>
>
> http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/BubbleNM.html
>
>
>
> Imagine a star 40 times as massive and several hundred thousand times more
> luminous than our sun? Well, BD +60°2522 is such a star. Its enormous 
> energy
> output and powerful stellar winds have blown a titanic bubble of ionized 
> gas
> measuring 6 light years in diameter. Popularly known as the Bubble Nebula,
> the strange symmetrically round nebula is the outcome of the prodigious
> energy output and fierce stellar winds of an unusually powerful star known
> as a Wolf-Rayet star. Named after the French astronomers Charles Wolf and
> Georges Rayet, who first described the unusual stars in 1867, less than 
> 300
> Wolf-Rayet stars (WR) have been identified in our own galaxy and some have
> even been identified in other galaxies. These extremely powerful stars 
> mark
> the end stage of rare O type stars that begin their lives with at least 25
> times the mass of our sun. Their hot surface temperatures range between
> 30,000 and 60,000 degrees Kelvin and their stellar winds can exceed 1500
> kilometers per second, capable of rapidly depleting the stars outer 
> layers.
> WR stars can lose two thirds of their mass during this final stage of 
> their
> stellar life. A star entering the WR stage with 35 solar masses can end up
> as a 10 solar mass star before it explodes as a supernova.
>
>
>
> Wind blown bubbles, concentric rings and filamentary shaped nebulae are
> common outcomes of Wolf Rayet driven winds on surrounding gas clouds. The
> peculiar shape of the Bubble nebula marks the leading edge of the 
> Wolf-Rayet
> wind front as it plows into the denser stationary material of the
> interstellar medium. The prodigious winds of this WR star travel at 9
> million kilometers per hour. The asymmetry of the bubble in relation to BD
> +60°2522 is believed due to subtle differences in the density of the
> surrounding gaseous material. Also the bright arcs and small condensations
> which characterize the bubble's surface are also related to density
> variations in the swept up material forming the bubble wall. The prominent
> inner bright knot projected along the western wall of the bubble is 
> actually
> the ionized edge of a larger cloud that physically lies outside the bubble
> itself.
>
>
>
> The Bubble Nebula, NGC 7635 is imbedded in the surrounding HII region
> Sharpless 162 (S162). The entire complex is located in the Perseus arm of
> the Milky Way. BD +60°2522 the sole exciting star of the nebula is a type
> O6.5 giant with a surface temperature of 34,000 degrees. It is considered 
> a
> member of the Cas OB2 stellar association.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Rob Gendler
> email: robgendler@att.net
> Web Site: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com
> Rob Gendler
> email: robgendler@att.net
> Web Site: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Astro-Photo mailing list
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> http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/astro-photo
> 


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