Sh 2-88A is an HII-type diffuse nebula excited by the type O8 star BD+25°3952.

The structure has been interacting with a HI interstellar bubble shaped by the stellar winds of BD+25°3952 and the blue O8.5II(f) star BD +25°3866.

Overall, its actual structure is located 2.4 kiloparsecs away, at 23 × 15 parsecs in radius.

[5] Sharpless 2-88 is the first part of this nebula to have created a star-forming region.

Sharpless 2-88B2 is a HII region ionized by a star that is dimmer than B0.5 V, and is ultracompact.