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This Breathtaking Image Is a Real Photo of Two Stars Destroying Each OtherThe death of a binary star can be a spectacularly violent thing.

This picture shows the binary system R Aquarii, a red giant throwing off its outer envelope, which is being greedily cannibalised by its companion, a much smaller, denser white dwarf.

The dramatic moment you're looking at unfolded just 650 light-years from Earth – practically right next door in astronomical terms, which is why astronomers have a keen interest in the event.

(ESO/Schmid et al.)

But this new image of the interaction – taken in near-infrared by the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope – gives us an incredibly detailed new glimpse of the action.

For contrast, here is a picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the nebula Cederblad 211 – the dust and gas cloud that the stars are in the process of creating.

What's happening here is very turbulent. The red giant is what is known as a Mira variable star, a star at the very end of its lifespan. These kind of stars have already lost at least half their material, and as they pulsate, they reach a brightness 1,000 times that of the Sun.

The white dwarf – an end-of-life star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel – is also quite busy. The material it devours from the red giant accumulates on the white dwarf's surface, occasionally triggering an enormous thermonuclear explosion that blasts the material out into space.

This amazingly clear image shows both the stars at the centre of the jets of material spinning out into space. Eventually, this binary system's life could end in a colossal explosion – a Type Ia supernova.

You can download full-size and wallpaper-size versions of the photo here, and read the paper on it in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.:[eso.org]

[sciencealert.com]

Lukian 8 Dec 16
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2

Kind of reinforces atheism...

Lilith Level 5 Dec 17, 2018

I see this as just another statement of how amazing the universe and how small we are. Our idea of a god and a heaven says we will outlive the universe. That is so crazy.

2

I see this as a look into the future, our future. But not on such a spectacular level. Astronomy is fascinating and I love all the Nova series on PBS.

JackPedigo Level 9 Dec 17, 2018

if the prediction are true we are in for a spectacular lightshow in the night sky in a couple of years when these guys merge.

@Lukian I am talking about the end of our own star. Of course we won't be around to see it and it will slowly expand before it implodes.

@JackPedigo I did not understand that part in particular but astronomers still predict that when these 2 stars will merge it will be spectacular and it should happen in the couple of years.
[sciencemag.org]

@Lukian Sorry, I wasn't talking about colliding stars but the burn out of our own sun.

@JackPedigo I understood that

@JackPedigo what impact will it have on Earth?

@Lukian Sorry, I wasn't paying attention and missed the link. Grapevine Texas, that's where my dad worked. It's just outside Dallas and he worked for Ling-Temco-Vaught. Interesting coincidence. How visible will this be?

@JackPedigo it can be big enough probably to see with the naked eye.

1

Just incredible! Thanks.

phxbillcee Level 10 Dec 16, 2018
3

That is awesome.

arttrust Level 6 Dec 16, 2018
2

Fascinating and very cool.

t1nick Level 8 Dec 16, 2018
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