Just in time for the 26th anniversary of Hubble’s launch on April 24, 1990, the space telescope has photographed, from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera, a mosaic of four images allowing us to see the whole of the Bubble Nebula in one picture for the first time.
At 7,800 lightyears distance, in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, this nebula forms an almost perfectly symmetrical shell producing a colossal, balloon-like bubble, 10 lightyears across. It is being blown into space by a super-hot, gigantic star. Active radiation from the star ionises the shell, causing it to glow.
Inside the bubble sits a star between 10 and 20 times the mass of the sun, which provides the pressure to inflate the surrounding interstellar material into a bubble that is currently expanding at the astounding pace of 100,000km an hour.
These enormously powerful stars mark the final stage of rare ‘O’ type stars that had begun their lives with at least 25 times the mass of our sun. Their scorching surface temperatures range between 30,000 and 60,000 degrees Kelvin, and their stellar winds can exceed 1,500km per second, capable of swiftly depleting the stars’ outer layers.
You can now own a large limited edition acrylic print as Hubble captures the first complete view of the Bubble Nebula to celebrate 26 years in orbit.
Pigment inks on 271gsm satin paper, professionally hand-bonded onto a 5mm cast acrylic panel. Currently available in two sizes:
- 24″ (w) × 24″ (h)
- 12″ (w) × 12″ (h)
Each acrylic print comes ready to hang.
FREE delivery.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
