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Credit & Copyright: Luigi Morrone
and Telescope Live
Explanation:
This cosmic snapshot
covers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within the
boundaries of the high-flying constellation Cygnus.
Made using astronomical narrowband filters, the image
highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the
glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Embedded in
the region's expanse of interstellar clouds,
the complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of material
swept up by the wind from
Wolf-Rayet star WR 134,
the brightest star near image center.
Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making
this telescopic frame over 100 light-years across.
Shedding
their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds,
massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a
prodigious
rate
and end their final phase of massive star evolution in
a spectacular supernova.
Their stellar winds and final supernova explosion
enrich the interstellar material with
heavy elements
to be incorporated in
future generations of
stars.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: stellar wind
Publications with words: stellar wind
See also: