The Bubble Nebula, aka SH2-162 or NGC 7635, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, located on the left side of this image. The “bubble” is created by the stellar wind, a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude central star. The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow.
The Lobster Claw Nebula, SH2-157, is an emission nebula located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The red/orange portions of the nebula are made up of strong HII regions. The predominantly yellow part of the nebula is a very large H II region.
Also visible is the star cluster NGC 7510, seen at the lower left of the image, below and left of the Bubble.
Distance:
The Bubble Nebula is between 7100 and 11,000 light-years (41750 billion to 64700 billion miles) from Earth. The Lobster Claw Nebula is about 11,000 light-years (64700 billion miles) from the Earth.
Imaging:
This image is one panel of a four-panel mosaic with each panel consisting of 20 sub-images at 5 minutes each (over 6.5 hours of imaging), calibrating the stack using 60 dark frames @ 300s, 60 bias frames, and 60 flat images. I stacked each panel using Siril, and post-processed with Siril until the stars became visible, then aligned and combined the panels into a single panorama image in Photoshop, then finished post-processing back in Siril, with final touches in PhotoShop. I’m still working on the mosaic in Astro Pixel Processor, so selected this panel for a primer. Zoom in on the left side nebula to see the bubble, or what my wife calls a contact lens in space!
Equipment:
• Telescope: SVBony SV503 80ED 560mm, F/7 Refractor with a 0.8 Reducer/Flattener
• Mount: SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro
• Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme(Bortle 6 dark sky area)
• Guiding: ZWO ASI120mm Mini Monochrome Guide Camera with the ZWO 30mm f/4 Guide Scope
• Automation: ZWO ASIAir Mini
