Big BubbleA closeup of the star cluster NGC 1929 shows what astronomers call a superbubble—a huge hole about 325 by 250 light-years across—being blown in a star-forming nebula.The bubble, seen in this newly released shot from the European Southern Observatory, sits in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small companion galaxy of our Milky Way. The bubble is being carved as radiation from massive, young stars and shockwaves from their explosive deaths push on the nebula's gas and dust.
Image courtesy Manu Mejias, ESO

Space Pictures This Week: Superbubble, Kinky Galaxy, More

Stars blow a huge bubble in space, the space shuttle seems to drop from the sky, and more in the week's best space pictures.

Published July 29, 2011