Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  Crescent nebula  ·  NGC 6888  ·  Sh2-105
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The Crescent Nebula in Halpha, Gabe Shaughnessy
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The Crescent Nebula in Halpha

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The Crescent Nebula in Halpha, Gabe Shaughnessy
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The Crescent Nebula in Halpha

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Description

The Crescent nebula is an emission nebula that lies around 5000 ly away in the constellation Cygnus. The nebula is formed by stellar wind from the central Wolf-Rayet star, a star that has consumed its hydrogen fuel and currently burns helium and other heavier elements. The stellar wind ejected amounts to a solar mass every 10k years. This stellar wind collided with the slower moving stellar wind which was released during its earlier red giant phase. During this collision, two shock waves resulted; one moving away from the star and one toward the star. The shock wave moving toward the star compressed the remaining gas, making a strong X-ray source. It's thought that the WR star will explode as a supernova in 100k years.

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The Crescent Nebula in Halpha, Gabe Shaughnessy

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Nebulae