Monday, August 27, 2007

Comet-like star streaks through Milky Way

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A large star in its death throes is leaving a huge, turbulent tail of oxygen, carbon and nitrogen in its wake that makes it look like an immense comet hurtling through space, astronomers said on Wednesday.

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This dying star is shedding material that will be recycled into new stars, planets and possibly even life.

Nothing like this has ever previously been witnessed in a star, according to scientists who detected it using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, an orbiting space telescope that observes the cosmos in ultraviolet light.

This tail, spanning a stunning distance of 13 light-years, was detected behind the star Mira, located 350 light-years from Earth in the "whale" constellation Cetus.

"There's a star with a tail in the tail of the whale," said one of the researchers.

Facts:

- Rocketing through our Milky Way galaxy at 80 miles per second -- literally faster than a speeding bullet -- the star is spewing material that scientists believe may be recycled into new stars, planets and maybe even life.
- Nothing like this has ever previously been witnessed in a star.
- The tail spans a distance of 13 light-years.
- The tail is made up of oxygen, carbon and nitrogen.

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