July 27, 2026
The same gravity that holds galaxies together and keeps planets in their orbits also held you to the Earth on the day you were born.
NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula
Birthday · July 27, 2026
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APOD published July 27, 2026. Credit: Paweł Piechnik. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What created this huge space bubble? Blown by the wind from a star, this tantalizing, head-like apparition is cataloged as NGC 7635, but known simply as the Bubble Nebula. Taken from Krakow, Poland, the featured view utilizes a long exposure to reveal the intricate details of this cosmic bubble and its environment. Although it looks delicate, the 10 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at work. Seen here right of the Bubble's center, a bright hot star is embedded in the nebula's reflecting dust. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from the star, which likely has a mass 10 to 20 times that of the Sun, has blasted out the structure of glowing gas against denser material in a surrounding molecular cloud. The intriguing Bubble Nebula lies a mere 11,000 light-years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia.
Image credit: Paweł Piechnik