I was astounded when I first realized that this object truly is a giant, astronomical bubble, inflated to a diameter of 7 light years by the stellar wind generated by the massive, young star visible at about the 2 o’clock position inside the bubble. The stellar wind has pushed much of the surrounding dust away from the star. Unlike in a typical planetary nebula, the star is not in the bubble’s centre. Denser dust concentrations toward the 2 o’clock direction have slowed the expansion in that direction and caused the bubble to be off-centre from the position of the star.
Imaging: 110 x 2 minutes + 460 x 5 minutes
Integration: 42 hours taken, 24½ hours used.
Location: Backyard in Port Coquitlam, BC (Bortle Class 7).
Dates: July 9-20, 2023.