The star CW Leonis seems in an astronomical picture highlighted by NASA on Monday (17), in a picture captured by the Hubble Telescope. It’s 400 mild years away from us, and it’s thought-about the closest carbon star to Earth.
This star seems to be surrounded by a gaseous cloud wealthy in carbon, with a construction of arcs and envelopes. It isn’t recognized for positive what’s behind the construction, and you’ll test it out within the picture beneath:
The star’s orange colour is the results of atmospheric carbon coming from the star’s inside via nuclear fusion. On account of their decrease gravity, these stars are in a position to launch carbon and derived compounds into area extra effectively.
Along with the orange shell, the star has one other unusual characteristic: there are rays of sunshine in it, the depth of which has modified in brightness over a interval of solely 15 years. The time may be very quick in astronomical phrases, and it was attributable to a course of that’s unknown in the mean time.
What’s a carbon star?
To know carbon stars, one should first recall the processes in stars of medium mass. After they exhaust their reserves of hydrogen for nuclear fusion, the star collapses and ultimately turns into a crimson big.
Most carbon stars are of this kind, which partly explains their reddish hue. One more reason lies within the outer layers of those stars, which scatter blue-green mild. Solely crimson and orange mild can cross the barrier and attain our eyes.
Additionally, carbon stars are variable, which signifies that the depth of their mild modifications periodically. This distinction can happen inside just a few months, however it might additionally take greater than a yr.
supply: APOD
