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Credit: L. Kaper et. al. (ESO)
Explanation:
Runaway stars are massive stars
traveling rapidly through interstellar space.
Like a ship plowing through
the interstellar medium,
runaway star HD 77581 has produced this graceful arcing bow wave or "bow
shock" - compressing the gaseous material in its path.
Located near the centre of
this European Southern Observatory photograph,
HD 77581 itself is so bright that it saturates the sensitive camera and
produces the spiky cross shape.
This star is over 6,000 light-years away in
the constellation Vela, and
appears to move at over 50 miles per second.
What force could set this star in motion?
A clue to the answer may lie in its optically invisible companion star, an
X-ray bright
pulsar known as Vela X-1.
This pulsar is clearly the remnant of
a supernova explosion ...
which seems to have given this massive star and
its companion a mighty kick!
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: pulsar - runaway star - supernova
Publications with words: pulsar - runaway star - supernova
See also: