A massive star is caught fleeing its former companion, careening through space behind a brilliant yellow arc of gas and dust, in this exquisite new image from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope.
Named Zeta Ophiuchi, the bright blue star in the image's center is about 20 times more massive than our sun. Were it not shrouded by dust, it would be one of the brightest stars in the sky -- yet long ago, it orbited an even more massive star.
When that star exploded in a supernova, Zeta Ophiuchi took off like a shot. When WISE caught it, Zeta Ophiuchi was flying at 54,000 miles per hour.
As it plows through space, the star's powerful winds shove gas and dust out of its way into a bow shock, much like a boat's prow displaces water. Although this bright arc is hidden in visible light, matter in the shock is so compressed that it heats up and glows in wavelengths visible to WISE's infrared eyes.
The picture was generated by combining 16 individual exposures, which were taken between February 27 and March 7, 2010. Blue and cyan coloring in this image represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 micrometers, which is predominantly from stars. Green represents 12-micrometer light and red represents 22-micrometer light, which is mostly emitted by dust.
Zeta Ophiuchi is already about halfway through its 8-million-year lifespan. Like its late partner, it will probably end its life exploding as a supernova.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
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