Hubble Sees Red Giant Blow a Bubble

    Camelopardalis, or U Cam for short, is a star nearing the end of its life. As it begins to run low on fuel, it is becoming unstable. Every few thousand years, it coughs out a nearly spherical shell of gas as a layer of helium around its core begins to fuse. The gas ejected in the star’s latest eruption is clearly visible in this picture as a faint bubble of gas surrounding the star.

    U Cam is an example of a carbon star. This is a rare type of star whose atmosphere contains more carbon than oxygen. Due to its low surface gravity, typically as much as half of the total mass of a carbon star may be lost by way of powerful stellar winds. Located in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), near the North Celestial Pole, U Cam itself is actually much smaller than it appears in Hubble’s picture. In fact, the star would easily fit within a single pixel at the center of the image. Its brightness, however, is enough to saturate the camera's receptors, making the star look much bigger than it really is.

    The shell of gas, which is both much larger and much fainter than its parent star, is visible in intricate detail in Hubble’s portrait. While phenomena that occur at the ends of stars’ lives are often quite irregular and unstable, the shell of gas expelled from U Cam is almost perfectly spherical.

    The image was produced with the High Resolution Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys.

    Image credit: ESA/NASA

    NASA image use policy.

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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    Comments and faves

    1. ★

      Robyn Hooz, leahsak, Kriisi, Tender & endangered Cow/Horse of Dimness, and 91 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    2. leahsak (11 months ago | reply)

      wow! gorgeous!

    3. Freja & Zoe (11 months ago | reply)

      amazing !

    4. Farshad Sanaee The Apple (11 months ago | reply)

      ,.~* Amazing Wonderful *~.,

    5. tony lg (11 months ago | reply)

      Wow !!!

    6. ravensoverRio (11 months ago | reply)

      I learn something new everyday on this photostream.

    7. sleeping46 (11 months ago | reply)

      O_O

    8. anjoudiscus (11 months ago | reply)

      Superbe image !

    9. MirrorScope (11 months ago | reply)

      I wonder what that bright dot to the left of the star is? (or is it intended as the 'single pixel' comparison for the star's actually size)

    10. Helen Marie Brown (10 months ago | reply)

      wow amazing

    11. Severin K (10 months ago | reply)

      time frame? with a billion billion billion stars to look at are there always these examples present somewhere , observable? stability is a tricky thing.

    12. ArlindoCarvalho (10 months ago | reply)

      Save the Hubble!... Congratulations.

    13. dodagp (9 months ago | reply)

      What an extraordinary image !!!!
      Compelling text and details !

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