The nebula seems to be in an S-shape, but on closer inspection reveals to have extensions of the spiral arms, ending in a figure 8. The unusual shape may be due to the combination of other nebula, or it may have been formed by perforation of the original molecular cloud by powerful stellar winds and explosions. It may have also formed by a collision of two interstellar clouds, according to
Annie Laval and
Patricia Ambrocio-Cruz. The gas would have been compressed, forming the luminous stars seen today.
Bubbles N119 contains several bubble-shaped nebulae: DEM L132a; DEM L132b; DEM L123; and an unnamed
WR nebula. In total the nebulosity of N119 spans . DEM L132a is 88 parsecs across and encompasses the two
luminous blue variables
S Doradus and
R85. However, those stars do not emit sufficient ionising radiation to produce the observed shell, and no other hot luminous stars are seen within the shell. It may have been produced by one or both of the LBVs during an earlier phase of their evolution. DEM L132b is 52 parsecs wide and surrounds two class O giants or supergiants and numerous other hot stars, which comfortably produce the necessary ionising radiation and fast winds to sculpt the bubble from the surrounding interstellar material. The
WR bubble nebula is a similar size to DEM L132b and is produced by
Brey 21, a binary containing a WN3 star and a B-type supergiant. DEM L123 is 158 parsecs across and its origins are unclear. No sufficiently powerful stars have been detected inside it that could produce it with their
stellar wind (as this would require the power of 44
O6 supergiants) and it is ten times too energetic to have originated from a typical
supernova. This bubble may have been created by a
hypernova. == Observational history ==