by Dave Mitsky

I captured this image of NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, on 2006/12/10 using my friend Dave Lassiter's 14" f/10 Meade LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain, a Meade DSI, and an f/3.3 focal reducer.  It's comprised of 10 two minute integrations.  NGC 7635 is a diffuse nebula that appears as a faint oval, approximately 3.5' x 3' in apparent size, surrounding the spectral type B2 IV star HD 220057 (BD +60°2522).  This seventh magnitude Wolf-Rayet star is 40 times more massive than Sol and is thought to be a member of the Cas OB2 stellar association.  The gigantic bubble of ionized gas formed by the star's strong stellar winds is six light years in diameter.  Dave's observatory is located north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.