Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888

Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888  NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is  about 25 light-years across blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star WR 136 known as a Wolf Rayet star. Wolf Rayet stars are rare and extremely active. According to recent estimations, WR 136 is 600,000 times brighter than the Sun, 21 times more massive, and 5.1 times larger. Its surface temperature is around 70,000 kelvin compared to 6000 kelvin for the Sun . The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun’s mass every 10,000 years. The nebula’s complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula region of the constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away. Over 26 hours of narrow band image data was taken using my 20″ CDK20 telescope in Jackson Hole. capturing light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the detailed folds and filaments. There is also 8 hours of L,RGB data showing the true color of the stars and  adding detail to the background nebula.