APOD: Massive Shell-Expelling Star G79.29+0.46 (2017 Sep 25)

[APOD Robot]

Massive Shell-Expelling Star G79.29+0.46

Explanation: Stars this volatile are quite rare. Captured in the midst of dust clouds and visible to the right and above center is massive G79.29+0.46, one of less than 100 luminous blue variable stars (LBVs) currently known in our Galaxy. LBVs expel shells of gas and may lose even the mass of Jupiter over 100 years. The star, itself bright and blue, is shrouded in dust and so not seen in visible light. The dying star appears green and surrounded by red shells, though, in this mapped-color infrared picture combining images from NASA's Spitzer Space Observatory and NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. G79.29+0.46 is located in the star-forming Cygnus X region of our Galaxy. Why G79.29+0.46 is so volatile, how long it will remain in the LBV phase, and when it will explode in a supernova is not known.

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[alter-ego]

This is on of those images where I've got no sense of angular size. Scaling from the large-area Cygnus X APOD, todays image covers an area equal to a full moon (~0.55° x 0.35°)

[Ann]

This is on of those images where I've got no sense of angular size. Scaling from the large-area Cygnus X APOD, todays image covers an area equal to a full moon (~0.55° x 0.35°)

Thanks! I guess that means that the objects in this picture are more far apart than they appear to be here.

Anyway, the picture is fascinating. Note the long dusty "tube", likely held together by magnetic forces, which serves as a hotbed for star formation. Look at all the infrared sources suggesting the presence of infant stars along this dust funnel.

And what is that enormous white thing hanging down like a misshapen, leaking balloon from the dust structure?

Of course the LBV star looks amazing too!

This is a great picture! Thanks!

Ann

[Boomer12k]

Very colorful and mysterious...

:---[===] *

[Boomer12k]

This is on of those images where I've got no sense of angular size. Scaling from the large-area Cygnus X APOD, todays image covers an area equal to a full moon (~0.55° x 0.35°)

Thanks! I guess that means that the objects in this picture are more far apart than they appear to be here.

Anyway, the picture is fascinating. Note the long dusty "tube", likely held together by magnetic forces, which serves as a hotbed for star formation. Look at all the infrared sources suggesting the presence of infant stars along this dust funnel.

And what is that enormous white thing hanging down like a misshapen, leaking balloon from the dust structure?

Of course the LBV star looks amazing too!

This is a great picture! Thanks!

Ann

Ann,
That "White Thing"...is not hanging down...if you look at the "mapped color image"...big picture, and click near the middle you should find this area.... it is actually the END of a filament area come up TO the dust area...it is a "blob"...

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[Ann]

Ann,
That "White Thing"...is not hanging down...if you look at the "mapped color image"...big picture, and click near the middle you should find this area.... it is actually the END of a filament area come up TO the dust area...it is a "blob"...

:---[===] *

Okay! Yes, it looks like a blob! I'm just wondering what caused it.

Ann

[ta152h0]

Nice calendar, thank you

[De58te]

Anybody see to the right of the "white thing" the face of a squirrel? Or maybe a porcupine or even a llama. There are distinctive eyes, the fur is light colored, with a darker pinkish nose and a darker open mouth. Even two pointed ears with the right ear about twice as big as the left.

[neufer]

Anybody see to the right of the "white thing" the face of a squirrel? Or maybe a porcupine or even a llama. There are distinctive eyes, the fur is light colored, with a darker pinkish nose and a darker open mouth. Even two pointed ears with the right ear about twice as big as the left.

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• Much Ado About Nothing Act 5, Scene 1

LEONATO: Tush, tush, man; nEVER fleer and JEST at me:

• I speak not like a DOTARD nor a FOOL,

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[Boomer12k]

Anybody see to the right of the "white thing" the face of a squirrel? Or maybe a porcupine or even a llama. There are distinctive eyes, the fur is light colored, with a darker pinkish nose and a darker open mouth. Even two pointed ears with the right ear about twice as big as the left.

OH NO!!!!....It's a SQUIRREL LOOKING RIGHT AT ME!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!


My PTSD is kicking in... Yes I see the Squirrel... or rabbit... You have to forgive me... you see, the squirrels are after me... it is a conspiracy.... I know too much...shhhhhh....

Ask Ann....

:---[===] *

[FLPhotoCatcher]

Anybody see to the right of the "white thing" the face of a squirrel? Or maybe a porcupine or even a llama. There are distinctive eyes, the fur is light colored, with a darker pinkish nose and a darker open mouth. Even two pointed ears with the right ear about twice as big as the left.

It's a squirrel. But when you pointed it out, the squirrel I saw was Scrat from Ice Age. He's there too! It looks like scrat is falling, as usual, and the acorn he's after is the white blob to his left.

Just above your realistic squirrel, is the animated version, drawn in dark dusty wisps, with two red stars for eyes.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Well, the real "Scrat In Space", unlike the short film, will "animate" for a very long time.

[Fred the Cat]

In thinking about categorizing massive stars I can’t find out if there was a classification just by total amount of hydrogen. It seems like this star is too big for its britches.

And if they were such a organization strategy - would those stars be the among the oldest?