THE BUBBLE NEBULA

The Bubble Nebula, NGC 7635, gets its name because it contains an oval bubble feature blown in nebula material by the young mag. +8.7 star SAO 20575. This star is estimated to be 44 times as massive as our Sun and 398,000 times as luminous. The bubble is actually a sphere of material, but only the foreshortened edges of the sphere appear distinct. The nebula lies 0.5º to the southwest of M52 and can be seen with a 10-inch scope (or a 8-inch scope under good conditions) as a faint ring.