Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6883
The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134, José Manuel López Arlandis
The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134
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The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134

The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134, José Manuel López Arlandis
The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134
Powered byPixInsight

The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134

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Wolf-Rayet stars represent a brief, late stage in the evolution of some very massive stars. They have lost their outer hydrogen envelopes, and their stellar winds are composed of heavier elements such as helium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These stars end their existence in a supernova explosion. To date, 227 Wolf-Rayet stars have been discovered. About 50 of them are surrounded by an emission nebula, referred to as a Wolf-Rayet nebula or bubble. The inner region of these nebulae forms from the current stellar wind, while the outer layers are remnants of previous mass-loss episodes interacting with the interstellar medium. The morphology of these bubbles often leads them to be identified as planetary nebulae (SK Górny et al), although their formation process is entirely different from that of nebulae originating from medium-sized stars, which have a white dwarf at their center. The most famous WR bubbles are probably Thor's Helmet Nebula and the Crescent Nebula.

The photograph covers a 1.25 x 0.91-degree field in the central region of the Cygnus constellation, within the plane of the Milky Way. It is a narrowband HOO image with RGB stars. The background contains a rich star field and dense clouds of hydrogen. At the center is the WR 134 star, with a magnitude of 8.8. Its diameter is five times that of the Sun, but due to a temperature exceeding 63,000 K, it is 400,000 times more luminous. WR 134 is a nitrogen Wolf-Rayet star (spectral classification WN6b). It rapidly loses mass by expelling gas at enormous speeds, creating the nebula surrounding the star. In the nebula, a large arc to the northwest can be distinguished, with a laminar structure caused by interaction with the surrounding medium, similar to what we see in supernova remnants. It shines in both Hα and OIII. These laminar structures are common in WR bubbles. The radial structure is composed of numerous finger-like extensions pointing toward the central star, shining particularly bright in OIII. These resemble those of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), although that is a classic planetary nebula with a white dwarf as its central star. WR 134 is a massive star destined to end its days as a supernova.Orion Optics AG10 telescope, QHY 268C camera, Optolong RGB filters, and Baader Hα and OIII filters. Total exposure of 51h 9m.

Górny's article contains a list of 49 Wolf-Rayet bubbles. A search in Vizier provides a list of 45: List WR bubbles.xlsx

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The bubble of Wolf-Rayet 134, José Manuel López Arlandis