Hubble’s bubble illuminates the interstellar rubble
![](https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/18LvNE2qRhof16OLvVeo8eA.jpeg?w=480&h=270&crop=1)
A shining bauble among a diffuse cloud of stellar debris has a tremendously interesting physics story behind it.
“Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes
From 7,100 light years away, the Bubble Nebula is one of the most clearly identifiable deep-sky objects of all.
https://players.brightcove.net/2097119709001/4kXWOFbfYx_default/index.html?videoId=5074695060001
Instead of matter blown off from a dying star, this structure arises from a massive, young and incredibly luminous star shining in a dense, matter-rich region of space.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*lwqp1ZQ1pBpmpR3z.jpg)
Molecular clouds are where new stars often form, in groups or in isolation, and the Bubble Nebula is deep inside exactly one such region.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*RYNB5w8nUs5cjV5G.png)
Powering the Bubble is the massive O-class star BD+60 2522, which burns with a temperature of 37,500 K and a luminosity nearly 400,000 times that of our Sun.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*Blztprn3tuiX-moo.png)
The star is off-center from the Bubble’s center due to the fact that the interstellar medium is denser on the “short” side, making it more difficult to push matter out in that location.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*fMeK0LR91ytMSleA.jpg)
Emitting stellar winds at approximately 1,700 km/s, or 0.6% the speed of light, is how the bubble is created at all.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*h-OcNM_RiFXZPKko.jpg)
The blue color comes from partially ionized oxygen atoms, while the cooler yellow color highlights hydrogen (red) and nitrogen (green).
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*9fqA-OzMSWPiIQeb.jpg)
In 10 million years, this helium-burning star will finally go supernova, creating a different type of spectacular light show.
Mostly Mute Monday tells the story of a single astronomical phenomenon or object in visuals, images and video in no more than 200 words.
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