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.
September 04, 2023
via NASA https://ift.tt/P0OFiX6
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