Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2020 October 17 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Cygnus: Bubble and Crescent Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Wissam Ayoub Explanation: These clouds of gas and dust [5]drift through rich star fields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the high flying constellation Cygnus. Caught within the [6]telescopic field of view are the [7]Soap Bubble (lower left) and the [8]Crescent Nebula (upper right). Both were formed at a final phase in the life of a star. Also known as NGC 6888, the Crescent was shaped as its bright, central massive [9]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 [10]a short life that should finish in a spectacular [11]supernova explosion. [12]Discovered in 2013, the Soap Bubble Nebula is likely a [13]planetary nebula, the final shroud of a lower mass, long-lived, sun-like star destined to become a slowly cooling white dwarf. Both stellar shrouds are 5,000 light-years or so distant. The larger Crescent Nebula is around 25 light-years across. Tomorrow's picture: pretty wild ... __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2010/NGC6888WissamAyoub.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Wissam_Astrophotography/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150819.html 6. https://www.astrobin.com/6ooyr1/B/?nc=user 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150113.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160610.html 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star 10. https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/hubble-view-wolf-rayet-stars-intense-and-short-lived 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star#Supernovae 12. http://www.starimager.com/Image%20Gallery%20Pages/Hydrogen%20Alpha%20Images/ic%201318_AP_8%20pane%20mosaic_bubble%20nebula.htm 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201016.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201017 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201018.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. http://www.mtu.edu/