The Lobster Claw and Bubble Nebulae — Sh2-157 & NGC 7635

About This Image

Captured the image over 4 nights: Sept 28/29/30, Oct 12/13 This wide-field narrowband image captures the Lobster Claw Nebula (Sh2-157) together with the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) in the constellation Cassiopeia. The enormous Lobster Claw is a complex region of glowing hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen shaped by radiation and stellar winds from massive young stars. Distance estimates for Sh2-157 vary, but it is generally placed roughly 8,000–11,000 light-years from Earth. The much more compact Bubble Nebula near the top of the image lies about 7,100 light-years away and spans roughly 7 light-years. Its distinctive shell is being blown into the surrounding interstellar gas by the powerful stellar wind from a hot, massive star. NASA Science. The image was captured through Antlia 4.5 nm SII, Hα and OIII narrowband filters and processed in PixInsight using an SHO/Foraxx colour palette. In this representation, the warmer gold and orange structures are dominated by sulfur and hydrogen emission, while the blue and cyan regions highlight stronger doubly ionized oxygen emission. Separating and processing the stars independently helped preserve the extensive faint nebulosity while keeping the dense Milky Way star field from overpowering the main structures.