Galactic bubble
Nestled within the shell around this large bubble is an embryonic star that is already a hefty eight times more massive than our Sun.
This image, by ESA’s Herschel space observatory, was originally presented in the first announcement of scientific results from the mission in May 2010.
This week Herschel scientists will meet again at ESA’s ESTEC establishment in the Netherlands to present, discuss, and take stock of the scientific breakthroughs of the entire mission at The Universe Explored by Herschel symposium.
The Galactic bubble shown in this image was just one of many surprising results of the mission.
It is about 4300 light-years away and has been blown by a star at its centre. The star is not visible at these infrared wavelengths but pushes on the surrounding dust and gas with nothing more than the power of its starlight.