Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2016

28 SPACE CHRONICLES years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. This object was first discovered by William Herschel in 1787 and this is not the first time it has caught Hub- ble’s eye. How- ever, due to its very large size on the sky, pre- v i o u s Hubble Hubble captures birthday bubble T his new Hubble Space Tele- scope image, released to cel- ebrate Hubble’s 26 th year in orbit, captures in stunning clarity what looks like a gigantic cosmic soap bubble. The object, known as the Bubble Nebula, is in fact a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the brilliant star within it. The vivid new portrait of this dra- matic scene wins the Bubble Neb- ula a place in the exclusive Hubble hall of fame, following an impres- sive lineage of Hubble anniversary images. Twenty six years ago, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launch- ed into orbit aboard the space shut- tle Discovery as the first space tele- scope of its kind. Every year, to com- memorate this momentous event in space history, Hubble spends a modest portion of its observing time capturing a spectacular view of a specially chosen astronomical object. This year’s anniversary object is the Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, which lies 8,000 light- by NASA T he Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, is an emission nebula located 8,000 light-years away. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to cele- brate its 26 th year in space. [NA- SA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team] JULY-AUGUST 2016