Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  Crescent nebula  ·  IC 4996  ·  NGC 6888  ·  The star 28Cyg  ·  The star 29Cyg
NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view, astrobillbinMontana
NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view
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NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view

NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view, astrobillbinMontana
NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view
Powered byPixInsight

NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view

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Description

NGC6888, the Crescent Nebula, is an emission nebula that surrounds WR136 (HD192163), a 7.4 magnitude Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation of Cygnus. This nebula is a gigantic bubble of gas formed by the stellar wind from the extremely hot and massive young central star. The strong ultraviolet light from the star ionizes the gas and illuminates the nebula. The nebula is 26 light-years across. It is located about 5,000 light-years from Earth. NGC 6888 was discovered by William Herschel in 1792.

The age of the central star WR136 is estimated to be around 4.7 million years and it is nearing the end of its life. Within a few hundred thousand years, it is expected to explode as a supernova.

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NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula in Ha - widefield view, astrobillbinMontana