The full moon towers over the Washington Monument as NASA's Hubble reveals the Bubble Nebula, a 7-light-year-wide structure formed by a massive star. This star ejects gases at extreme temperatures, creating vibrant colors. Astronauts aboard the ISS experience the Overview Effect, which alters their perception of Earth.
A glowing full moon rises over the Washington Monument. The top quarter of the monument, covered in scaffolding, is visible, with its triangular tip seemingly pointing toward the pale moon above, which in this photo appears to be about twice as wide as the monument. The moon is surrounded by thin clouds that give it a hazy appearance.
This stylish orb, spotted by NASA Hubble, is known as the Bubble Nebula. The Bubble Nebula is located 7,100 light-years from Earth and is a whopping 7 light-years across. The roaring star that forms this nebula is 45 times more massive than our sun!
Gas on the star becomes so hot that it escapes into space as a stellar wind, moving at more than four million miles per hour (6.4 million km/h). The gases, heated to different temperatures, emit different colors: blue for oxygen, green for hydrogen, and red for nitrogen.
The Bubble Nebula formed about four million years ago, and in 10 to 20 million years the star at its core will likely explode as a supernova.
“This is so beautiful,” one user commented on NASA's post, while another wondered how gas in space can change colors?
The waxing, gibbous moon was captured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles (426 kilometers) above the U.S. state of Minnesota on December 17, 2021.
Observing Earth from space can change an astronaut's cosmic perspective, a mental shift known as the “Overview Effect.” First coined in 1987 by space writer Frank White, the Overview Effect is described as a sense of awe for our home planet and a sense of responsibility to care for it.
The Overview Effect can create powerful shifts in the way you think about the Earth and life. The words “beautiful” and “fragile” are often used by astronauts to describe the experience. While the International Space Station was floating 262 miles (422 kilometers) above Western Australia, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps captured this long exposure, or an image captured by a camera set to a slower shutter speed.
This photo was liked by over 755,100 people as users commented: “The Earth took on a green glow.”
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught this glimpse of the Red Spider Nebula, a planetary nebula 3,000 light-years from Earth. It is located in the constellation Sagittarius.
The Red Spider Nebula is home to one of the hottest stars known, which heats the gas around it to form shock waves 62 billion miles (100 billion km) high. These waves form the spider-legged arcs in this image, with the star resembling a black widow's hourglass at the center.