Bubble Nebula Dazzles In Stargazer's Stunning Photos

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Bubble Nebula Cropped by Hancock
Terry Hancock captured this cropped image of the Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635, from Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Mich. on the nights of Aug. 15, 16 and 18. (Image credit: Terry Hancock )

Humid, summer weather didn't burst one veteran astrophotographer's cosmic bubble when he spent three nights capturing this beautiful image of NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula.

Space photographer Terry Hancock took the photo from Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Mich. after 11 hours of exposure time on the nights of Aug. 15, 16 and 18. To capture the amazing nebula photos, Hancock used a QHY11 monochrome CCD camera, QHY Color Filter Wheel, Astronomy Technologies Astro-Tech 12" f/8 Ritchey-Chrétien astrographoptics, Paramount GT-1100S German Equatorial Mount (with MKS 4000), and image acquisition software Maxim DL5.

"While the skies were clear the seeing conditions were quite poor due to high humidity," Hancock wrote SPACE.com in an email.

Astrophographer Terry Hancock sent SPACE.com this image of the Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635. He captured the photo from Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Mich. after 11 hours of exposure time over three nights in August. (Image credit: Terry Hancock )

Approximately 6 light-years wide, NGC 7635 is located roughly 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers). Intense radiation and stellar winds from a nearby star created this delicate-looking bubble, which shines pink because of surrounding red, hot gas.

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by SPACE.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

Editor's note: If you have a night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

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Nina Sen
Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.