Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  Crescent nebula  ·  IC 4996  ·  NGC 6888
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Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula, Samuel
Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula
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Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula

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Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula, Samuel
Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula

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Description

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1792.[2] It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 250,000[3] to 400,000[citation needed] years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.

It is a rather faint object located about 2 degrees SW of Sadr. For most telescopes it requires a UHC or OIII filter to see. Under favorable circumstances a telescope as small as 8 cm (with filter) can see its nebulosity. Larger telescopes (20 cm or more) reveal the crescent or a Euro sign shape which makes some to call it the "Euro sign nebula".

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Crescent and Soap Bubble Nebula, Samuel

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Nebulae