DISCLAIMER

We are thrilled to share with you a potential new discovery that has recently come to light. However, we must emphasize that our analysis of this discovery is still in progress, and many questions remain unanswered. We caution against drawing definitive conclusions or making sweeping statements until further research and analysis have been conducted.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the frontiers of knowledge together.


OBJECT ERKASLAN-DRECHSLER 1: THE NILADH BUBBLE

• Discoverers: Marcel Drechsler & Aygen Erkaslan
• Unofficial name: The NilAdh Bubble / OED-1
• Constellation: Vela
• Coordinates: 09 04 58  -44 29 38
• Image processing: Aygen Erkaslan
• Data acquisition, data compilation, data preparation: Aygen Erkaslan
• Scientific lead: Pr. Robert A. Fesen, Dartmouth College (USA) / Marcel Drechsler

Object Erkaslan-Drechsler 1, the bubble alike object located on the top of the little portion of the Vela SNR.

Before delving further into it, Marcel was kind enough to let me choose the unofficial name of this enigmatic object which finds its origins in the names of my kids. I promised myself that whenever I put my hands on a new sky gem, I shall name it after them. There we are.


HOW WAS THE BUBBLE DISCOVERED?

As it happens very often, the NilAdh Bubble were discovered fortuitously.  This journey started a few months ago when I felt a bit "down" to image mainly very well-known objects. Since a while, I have started to survey the night sky to discover unclassified objects.

One thing leading to another, I really started enjoying this hunting endeavor. Early on January 2024, I stumbled upon this unexpected bubble while exploring the surroundings of the Vela SNR. Thanks to Marcel’s expertise, we were able to identify it by analyzing raw data. Worth mentioning that Marcel and I already brought our attention to this region a few months ago while running some analysis. At that time, we noticed the little Vela's remnant roaming alone in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't really care about it.


WHAT TYPE OF OBJECT DID WE DISCOVER?

The answer to this question remains unanswered for the time being, but we believe it is likely resulting from winds and radiations of a massive star. As matter of fact, a few hypothesis can be put forward to explain the nature of the phenomenon. This unclassified object might be a planetary nebula, but the typical central star is still missing (no evidence of a white dwarf). One explanation might be that the star has already gone and the bubble is the only trace left of it. In the same vein, it could stem from a nova, but again no central star has been identified so far. To date, they are still no clear evidence with regards to the nature of this object.

To shed light on this mysterious object, Professor Robert Fesen of the Dartmouth College in the USA shall be digging into it, and we shall of course share the latest and greatest news in due time. As per the first analysis, and based on the the H-alpha and  [O III] emission morphology, the "bubble" appears to be due to an expanding shock front with a velocity of around 100 km/s.

While further clarifications are needed to understand the nature of the object, we noticed that the Vela’s X-ray analysis shows that the OED-1 lies outside the emission envelope, which reinforces the assumption that this mysterious bubble might indeed be a structure in its own, and most probably unrelated to the Vela's SNR.



Vela is a large and very complex SNR in terms of its optical emission structure, but the faint bubble featured is unusual in our opinion. Most of Vela's emissions are arcs and shells, not small complete bubbles as the featured image. On the close-up image below,  the circular morphology of this object is easily spotted. Hence, our assumption that this unclassified object is most probably unrelated to Vela, and therefore a new discovery.

With regards to its physical components, the H-alpha emission has a strong predominant over the [O III], although a faint and yet beautiful filament of this later is present on the outer part of the object. Special care was taken during the processing phase to ensure a loyal representation of both emissions.



Last but not the least, the starless version of the EOD 1.



NOTE ON THE PROCESSING

Even though we managed to publish a good representation of this unexpected bubble, we believe that more data are required to get a better idea of it. Initial data was quite a bit too noisy to our Aygen's taste - most probably due to the limited integration time. For the time being, we gathered a few hours of Ha and [O III] alongside limited RGB data for the stars.  Going forward, we shall collect further data to finally improve the overall rendering of this mysterious Bubble. Stay tuned !

Let us know what you think about this unclassified object.

Marcel & Aygen