*Description*: This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals an expanding shell of glowing gas surrounding a hot, massive star in our Milky Way Galaxy. This shell is being shaped by strong stellar winds of material and radiation produced by the bright star at the left, which is 10 to 20 times more massive than our Sun. These fierce winds are sculpting the surrounding material _î__Ѷ composed of gas and dust _î__Ѷ into the curve-shaped bubble. Astronomers have dubbed it the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). The nebula is 10 light-years across, more than twice the distance from Earth to the nearest star. Only part of the bubble is visible in this image. The glowing gas in the lower right-hand corner is a dense region of material that is getting blasted by radiation from the Bubble Nebula's massive star. The radiation is eating into the gas, creating finger-like features. This interaction also heats up the gas, causing it to glow. Technical facts about this news release: About this Object Object Name: NGC 7742 Object Description: Face-on Spiral Galaxy Position (J2000): R.A. 23h 44m 15.94s Dec. +10° 46' 4.42" Constellation: Pegasus Visual Magnitude: 11.6 Distance: 72 million light-years (22 Mpc) Dimensions: The image is approximately 80 arcseconds across. The entire visible galaxy is 36,000 light-years (11kpc) across. About the Data Instrument: WFPC2 Exposure Date: July 9, 1995 Exposure Time: 1 hour Filters: Red: F675W(R), Green: F555W(V), Blue: F336W(U) Principal Astronomers: C. R. Lynds (NOAO/KPNO), J. A. Westphal (CalTech), Earl O'Neil Jr. (NOAO/KPNO), and collaborators. About this Image Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Release: October 21, 1998 12:00pm EDT Orientation: North is about 70 deg. CCW from up. What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. A vibrant celestial photo album of some of NASA Hubble Space Telescope's most stunning views of the universe is being unveiled today on the Internet. Called the Hubble Heritage Program, this technicolor gallery is being assembled by a team of astronomers at Hubble's science operations center, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. The four images released today are (top row, left to right) spiral galaxy NGC 7742, Saturn, and (bottom row, left to right) the Sagittarius Star Cloud and the Bubble Nebula. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/28/text/ ] *News Release Number:*: STScI-1998-28e
