NGC7635 - Lobster Claw and Bubble Nebulae

The Bubble Nebula (also known by its catalogue names NGC 7635 or Caldwell 11) is 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. The star forming the bubble is 45 times more massive than our sun. Gas in the outer atmosphere of the star gets so hot that it escapes away into space as a “stellar wind” moving at more than 4 million miles per hour, which sweeps up the interstellar gas in front of it, forming the outer edge of the bubble much like a snowplow piles up snow in front of it. Astronomers estimate that it will eventually go supernova in 5-20 million years. Also pictured are the Lobster Claw Nebula (NGC 7510) located about 11,000 light-years away, and the star cluster M52, which is about 4,600 light-years away.