R Aquarii (Symbiotic Binary) Tapestry Phone case they have cast off layers

they have cast off layers of gas periodically over the past couple thousand years

Credit: ESO

VY Canis Majoris is so large that if it replaced the Sun

which is twice the distance from our Sun to the nearest star

gas and dust are combining to produce a new generation of stars

R Aquarii (Symbiotic Binary) Tapestry Phone case they have cast off layersThis image reveals a dramatic binary star system named R Aquarii, located 700 light years from Earth, as seen in 2012 by ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT). R Aquarii is a so called symbiotic binary, comprising two stars surrounded by a large, dynamic cloud of gas (a nebula). Systems like this contain two stars in an unequal and complex relationship. R Aquarii is made up of one hot white dwarf and one red giant. The red giant is losing matter to its