A new Hubble Space Telescope image of a specially chosen astronomical object, the Bubble Nebula, has been released just in time for the telescope’s 26th birthday on April 24.
The Bubble Nebula was first discovered in 1787 but due to its large size, was never captured in an image in its entirety. Now, a mosaic of four images from the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 released by NASA/ESA shows its full form, including the shape of the shell that gives the nebula its name.
“This shell is the result of a powerful flow of gas — known as a stellar wind — from the bright star visible just to the left of centre in this image,” NASA writes. “The star, SAO 20575, is between ten and twenty times the mass of the Sun and the pressure created by its stellar wind forces the surrounding interstellar material outwards into this bubble-like form.”
Mysteriously, the star of this nebula is not located at the center of the molecular cloud, making it an object of study for astronomers.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Eyewitness Accounts From the Trump Rally Shooting
- From 2022: How the Threat of Political Violence Is Transforming America
- ‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Stop Feeling Bad About Sweating
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Contact us at letters@time.com